Project Mercury
Mercury-patch-g.png
Retroactive logo
CountryUnited States
OrganizationNASA
PurposeCrewed orbital flight
StatusCompleted
Program history
Cost
  • $277 million (1965)
  • $2.25 billion (2019)
Duration1958–1963
First flight
  • Big Joe 1
  • September 9, 1959 (1959-09-09)
First crewed flight
  • Mercury-Redstone 3
  • May 5, 1961 (1961-05-05)
Last flight
  • Mercury-Atlas 9
  • May 15, 1963 (1963-05-15)
Successes11
Failures3 (MA-1, MA-3, and MR-1)
Partial failures1 (Big Joe 1)
Launch site(s)
  • Cape Canaveral
  • Wallops
Vehicle information
Crewed vehicle(s)Mercury capsule
Launch vehicle(s)
  • Atlas LV-3B
  • Big Joe
  • Blue Scout II
  • Little Joe
  • Mercury-Redstone