#astronomy 

Project Mercury was the first human [[Spaceflight|spaceflight]] program of the United States, running in 1958-1963.

| **Crewed mission** | **Call-sign**    | **Pilot**       | Launch date    |
| ------------------ | ---------------- | --------------- | -------------- |
| Mercury-Redstone-3 | _Freedom 7_      | Alan Shepard    | May, 1961      |
| Mercury-Redstone-4 | _Liberty Bell 7_ | Gus Grissom     | July, 1961     |
| Mercury-Atlas-6    | _Friendship 7_   | John Glenn      | February, 1962 |
| Mercury-Atlas-7    | _Aurora 7_       | Scott Carpenter | May, 1962      |
| Mercury-Atlas-8    | _Sigma 7_        | Wally Schirra   | October, 1962  |
| Mercury-Atlas-9    | _Faith 7_        | Gordon Cooper   | May, 1963      |
Originally, Mercury-Atlas-7 was to be piloted by Deke Slayton. However, he was disqualified from the task 3 months prior to launch due to heart problems.