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==Legacy== [[File:Gordon cooper ticker tape.png|thumb|upright=0.85|[[Ticker tape parade]] for Gordon Cooper in New York City, May 1963]] Today the Mercury program is commemorated as the first American human space program.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=cover}} It did not win the race against the Soviet Union, but gave back national prestige and was scientifically a successful precursor of later programs such as Gemini, Apollo and Skylab.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=417}}{{refn|International rules required that a pilot must land safely with the spacecraft; in reality, Gagarin landed separately by parachute; however, the Soviet Union did not admit this until 1971 when their claim was no longer in danger of being challenged.{{sfn|Siddiqi|2000|p=283}}|group=n}} During the 1950s, some experts doubted that human spaceflight was possible.{{refn|In May 1957, five months before Sputnik I, the president of McDonnell, later the prime contractor, predicted that human spaceflight would not take place before 1990.{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=119}}|group=n}} Still, when [[John F. Kennedy]] was elected president, many, including him, had doubts about the project.{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=272}} As president he chose to support the programs a few months before the launch of ''Freedom 7'',{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=306}} which became a public success.{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=434}}{{refn|Along the roads in the US, drivers stopped to follow Freedom 7 on the radio. Later, 100 millions saw or listened to ''Friendship 7'', the first orbital flight, on TV or radio.{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=423}} The launch of ''Sigma 7'' and ''Faith 7'' were relayed live via [[communication satellite]] to television audiences in Western Europe.<ref name=Telstar/> Two of the three major US networks covered Sigma 7 minute-by-minute, while the third was showing the opening of the [[World Series]].{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=472}}|group=n}} Afterwards, a majority of the American public supported human spaceflight, and, within a few weeks, Kennedy announced a plan for a crewed mission to land on the Moon and return safely to Earth before the end of the 1960s.{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=363}} The six astronauts who flew were awarded medals,{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|pp=362, 435, 459, 486, 502, 584}} driven in parades and two of them were invited to address a [[Joint session of the United States Congress|joint session of the US Congress]].{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|pp=435, 501}} Seeing as no women previously met the qualifications for the astronaut program, the question was raised as to whether or not they could. This led to the development of a project named [[Mercury 13]] by the media, in which thirteen American women successfully underwent the tests. The Mercury 13 program was not officially conducted by [[NASA]]. It was created by NASA physician [[William Randolph Lovelace II|William Randolph Lovelace]], who developed the physical and psychological tests used to select NASA's first seven male astronauts for Project Mercury. The women completed physical and psychological tests, but were never required to complete the training as the privately funded program was quickly cancelled. No female candidates adequately met the qualifications for the astronaut program [[NASA Astronaut Group 8|until 1978]], when a few finally qualified for the [[Space Shuttle program]].{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=448}} Military Highway in [[Hampton, Virginia]] and [[Newport News, Virginia]] was renamed to [[Mercury Boulevard]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-10-24 |title=What's in a name? {{!}} Mercury Boulevard |url=https://www.pilotonline.com/2011/10/24/whats-in-a-name-mercury-boulevard/ |access-date=2024-08-17 |website=The Virginian-Pilot |language=en-US}}</ref> On February 25, 2011, the [[Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers]], the world's largest technical professional society, awarded [[Boeing]] (the successor company to McDonnell Aircraft) a Milestone Award for important inventions which debuted on the Mercury spacecraft.<ref name="BoeingMedia" />{{refn|Boeing received the award in recognition of Project Mercury's pioneering "navigation and control instruments, autopilot, rate stabilization and control, and [[fly-by-wire]] systems."<ref name="BoeingMedia"/>|group=n}} ===Depictions on film=== A short documentary, ''[[The John Glenn Story]]'', was released in 1962. On film the program was portrayed in ''[[The Right Stuff (film)|The Right Stuff]]'', a 1983 adaptation of [[Tom Wolfe]]'s 1979 [[The Right Stuff (book)|book of the same name]],<ref name="IMdBRightStuff" /> in the 1998 HBO miniseries ''[[From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)|From the Earth to the Moon]]'', in the 2016 film ''[[Hidden Figures]]'', and the 2020 Disney+ series ''[[The Right Stuff (TV series)|The Right Stuff]]'', which is also based on the Tom Wolfe book. ===Commemorations=== In 1964, a monument commemorating Project Mercury was unveiled near Launch Complex 14 at Cape Canaveral, featuring a metal logo combining the symbol of Mercury with the number 7.<ref name="Monument" /> This design was first issued to the Mercury astronauts in 1960 as a lapel pin.<ref name="pin">{{Cite web |last=Pearlman |first=Robert Z. |date=2020-01-06 |title='Pin'-nacle Achievement: The Story Behind NASA's Astronaut Pin |url=https://www.space.com/nasa-astronaut-pin-history.html |access-date=2022-08-22 |website=Space.com |language=en}}</ref> In 1962, the [[United States Postal Service]] honored the Mercury-Atlas 6 flight with a Project Mercury commemorative stamp, the first US postal issue to depict a crewed spacecraft.<ref name="GlennStamp" />{{refn|The stamp first went on sale in Cape Canaveral, Florida on February 20, 1962, the same day as the first crewed orbital flight.<ref name="GlennStamp" /> On May 4, 2011, the Postal Service released a stamp commemorating the 50th anniversary of ''Freedom 7'', the first flight of the project with people onboard.<ref name="ShepardStamp" />|group=n}} <gallery mode="packed"> Project Mercury Pad14.jpg|Mercury monument at Launch Complex 14, 1964 Project_Mercury_4¢_US_Postage_stamp_February_20,_1962_FDC_Scott_-1193.jpg|Commemorative [[U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps#Project Mercury Issue of 1962|Project Mercury 4¢ US Postage stamp]]{{refn|group=n|The stamp was issued February 20, 1962, the day of John Glenn's flight in ''Friendship 7''. This one has a [[First day of issue]] postmark from Cape Canaveral post office.}} </gallery> {{Clear}} ===Displays=== The spacecraft that flew, together with some that did not, are on display in the United States. ''Friendship 7'' (Spacecraft No. 13) went on a global tour, popularly known as its "fourth orbit".{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=436}} <gallery mode="packed"> File:20180320 Little Joe 5A Virginia Air and Space Center-1.jpg|''[[Little Joe 5B]]'' (Spacecraft No 14), [[Virginia Air and Space Science Center|Virginia Air and Space Center]] File:20180328 Big Joe Mercury capsule Udvar-Hazy.jpg|[[Big Joe 1|''Big Joe'']] Boilerplate, [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]] File:Mercury1A.JPG|[[Mercury-Redstone 1|''MR-1'']] & [[Mercury-Redstone 1A|''MR-1A'']] (Spacecraft No 2), [[John F. Kennedy Space Center|Kennedy Space Center]] File:Mercury-Redstone 2 Capsule.jpg|''[[Mercury-Redstone 2]]'' (Spacecraft No. 5), [[California Science Center]] File:Freedom 7 U.S. Naval Academy.JPG|''[[Mercury-Redstone 3|Freedom 7]] (Spacecraft No. 7)'' at the [[United States Naval Academy]], 2010 File:Liberty Bell 7 The Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center.JPG|''[[Mercury-Redstone 4|Liberty Bell 7]]'' (Spacecraft No. 11) at the [[Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center]], 2010 File:Friendship 7 the National Air and Space Museum.JPG|''[[Mercury-Atlas 6|Friendship 7]]'' (Spacecraft No. 13) at the [[National Air and Space Museum]], 2009 File:Aurora 7 the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.JPG|''[[Mercury-Atlas 7|Aurora 7]]'' (Spacecraft No. 18) at the [[Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago)|Museum of Science and Industry]], 2009 File:MA-8 Sigma 7 Astronaut Hall of Fame, Titusville, FL.JPG|''[[Mercury-Atlas 8|Sigma 7]]'' (Spacecraft No. 16) at the [[United States Astronaut Hall of Fame]], 2011 File:MA-9 Faith 7 Space Center Houston, Houston, TX.JPG|''[[Mercury-Atlas 9|Faith 7]]'' (Spacecraft No. 20) at [[Space Center Houston]], 2011 File:Mercury Spacecraft - Capsule 15B ‘Freedom 7 II’ (51281910923).jpg|Unflown Freedom 7 II (Spacecraft No. 15B) at [[Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center]] File:Mercury 10 at the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum 1679 (6586666405).jpg|Unflown (Spacecraft No. 10), [[Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum]] File:Mercury Procedures Simulator.JPG|Mercury Procedures Trainer at the [[U.S. Space & Rocket Center|U.S. Space and Rocket Center]], 2011 </gallery> ===Patches=== Commemorative patches were designed by [[entrepreneur]]s after the Mercury program to satisfy collectors.<ref name="patches" />{{refn|The only patches the Mercury astronauts wore were the NASA logo and a name tag.<ref name="patches"/> Each crewed Mercury spacecraft was painted black and decorated with a flight insignia, its call-sign, an American flag and the words United States.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=132}}|group=n}} <gallery mode="packed"> Mercury 3 - Patch.png Mercury 4 - Patch.png Mercury 6 - Patch.png Aurora 7 patch.png Mercury-8-patch.png Mercury 9 - Patch.png </gallery>
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