A Look Back at NASA’s Project Mercury

This incredible video was filmed at the beginning of NASA’s Mercury space program. The program ran from 1959 to 1963 and the documentary follows the story of astronauts Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton and their participation in the program.

It’s fascinating to see the plans for the early NASA programs before we successfully put a man on the moon. And it’s incredible to imagine the scientists and engineers working to put together the Mercury program and the enormous risks assumed by the astronauts.