For a long time, America had been dreaming about humans in space. Between 1958 and 1963, they carried out their first human spaceflight programme- Project Mercury. It aimed to put a man in the Earth’s orbit and bring him back safe. Project Mercury was taken over from the US Air Force and carried out by NASA.
NASA conducted both developmental flights and flights by astronauts. Some of the flights made use of animals as well. Project Mercury managed to send six people to space.
Project Mercury was followed by Project Gemini, NASA’s second spaceflight programme that began in 1961. This programme aimed at the development of the techniques of space travel that would come handy in the execution of the Apollo mission. The Gemini spacecraft had a two-astronaut crew. There were ten Gemini crews in total and all were successful.
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