Mercury spacecraft

The Mercury spacecraft program was the first human spaceflight initiative by the United States, launched in the early 1960s during the Cold War space race. Its primary goal was to send astronauts into space and orbit the Earth to learn about space travel and human endurance. Notable missions included the flight of Alan Shepard, the first American in space, and John Glenn, who became the first American to orbit the Earth. The program successfully paved the way for future space exploration, contributing valuable data and experience that shaped NASA's subsequent Apollo missions to the Moon.