Mercury-Atlas Launch Vehicle
Used in the Mercury Program earth orbital flights of astronauts John H. Glenn, Jr., Scott M. Carpenter, Walter M. Schirra and L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.
The Mercury-Atlas launch vehicle was developed from the U.S. Air Force's Atlas ballistic missile.
  • Height (with spacecraft): 29 meters (95 feet)
  • Thrust: 165,000 kilograms (365,000 pounds)
  • Propellants: Liquid Oxygen and RP-1 (a form of Kerosene)
Astronaut Glenn during prelaunch preparations.

John Glenn Notebook
Notebook carried by John H. Glenn Jr., during the flight of Friendship 7, the first U.S. manned orbital space flight on Feb. 20, 1962.

Glenn photographed by an automatic sequence motion picture camera while in orbit.

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Racing to Space
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Apollo 11
Later Apollo missions
What we learned about the Moon
After the Apollo Program


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Created: 7/99