X4802

Messenger Mission

The 7 Mercury Astronauts

Spring 2025 Mail Sale Commentary 

Lot 26 X4802 — Project Mercury — The Seven Mercury Astronauts — Subscriber edition — 5-4-11

The Mercury spacecraft was a small cone-shaped capsule that was only nine feet long and weighed about 4,000 pounds. The astronauts selected to fly in this spaceship could not be taller than 5'10" due to the capsule's limited cockpit space. It was so cramped that a Mercury astronaut was referred to as "a man in a can." Alan Shepard was the first American in space, and his Mercury spacecraft was named Freedom 7 in honor of the first seven astronaut heroes. He blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida on May 5, 1961. He had a porthole for viewing, a periscope, and a system of thrusters that could change the craft's course. It was a sub-orbital flight and lasted about 15 minutes. After re-entry, parachutes deployed, and the capsule had an ocean splashdown recovery. Two months later, Gus Grissom made a similar flight, and in 1962 John Glenn made the first American orbital flight around the earth. Gordon Cooper's twenty-two orbit flight ended the Project Mercury program in 1963 and paved the way for the next generation of spacecraft known as Gemini.