America's First Spaceship: Project Mercury (Infographic)

Karl Tate, SPACE.com Infographics Artist

Date: 16 February 2012 Time: 07:06 AM ET

Take a look at how the first American astronauts flew in space on NASA's Mercury space capsules in this SPACE.com infographic.

The Mercury space capsule was NASA's first manned spaceship and launched the first Americans into orbit in the early 1960s. The one-person spacecraft was used in three suborbital flights and three orbital flights before being replaced by the two-person Gemini capsules. See how the Mercury capsule worked in the SPACE.com Infographic above.

Project Mercury: Photos of NASA's 1st Manned Spaceflights
Photos: John Glenn's Space Legacy
Photos: Freedom 7, America's 1st Human Spaceflight

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