October 7, 2022
On this date in 1958, NASA officially set up Project Mercury. The goals of this project were to: (1) place a manned spacecraft in orbital flight around the earth; (2) investigate man’s performance capabilities and his ability to function in the environment of space; and (3) recover both man and spacecraft safely.
The patch for the Mercury program incorporates the number 7 – for the 7 Mercury astronauts, the astronomical symbol for the planet Mercury, and the alchemical symbol for the element Mercury. Image credit: NASA