Project Mercury was NASA's program that launched the first American astronauts into space, completing a total of six crewed spaceflights.
Founded in 1958, NASA is a civilian space agency aimed at exploring the universe with space telescopes, satellites, robotic spacecraft, astronauts and more. The space agency has 10 major centers based across the U.S. and launches robotic and crewed missions from the Kennedy Space Center in ...
The program included 20 unmanned launches, followed by two suborbital and four orbital flights with astronaut pilots. Early planning and research were carried out by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics, but the program was officially conducted by its successor organization, NASA. Mercury lai...
In recent years, Blue Origin has lost ground to its competitors in the commercial space sector, particularly SpaceX. Whereas Blue Origin has fallen behind with the development of theNew Shepardand theNew Glenn(a two-stage orbital launch vehicle), SpaceX has been makin...
the Moon, and return. However, the proposed Nova rocket would not be ready by 1970. In Earth orbit rendezvous, aspacecraftcarrying the crew would dock in Earthorbitwith the propulsion unit that would carry enough fuel to go to the Moon. However, this method required two separate launches....
After NASA launches a shuttle into space, a slew of fuel and chemical waste remain on the launching pad and surrounding area. One compound in particular, trichloroethylene, also called "trike," takes a long time to break down naturally in the ground. It's also known to cause health problems...
The attempt was made on December sixth, soon after the first two Sputnik launches. The attempt failed. The rocket exploded during the launch. Less than two months later, however, the United States put its first satellite into orbit.
The researchers analyzed images captured by one of NASA's twin Solar and Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) spacecraft, both of which launched into orbit around the sun in 2006. Get the Space.com Newsletter Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events ...
Denise Chow is a former Space.com staff writer who then worked as assistant managing editor at Live Science before moving to NBC News as a science reporter, where she focuses on general science and climate change. She spent two years with Space.com, writing about rocket launches and covering...
Shepard, Jr., prepares to step into the Freedom 7 capsule before the MercuryRedstone 3 mission launches. Standing Tall NASA The MercuryRedstone 3, with astronaut Alan B. Shepard, Jr., inside the Freedom 7 capsule, stands alone on the launchpad. Blastoff! NASA On May 5, 1961, NASA ...