On, NASA marked a major milestone in America’s early space program with the first successful launch of a Mercury-Atlas rocket. [...] ...

Sitting beside his Friendship 7 capsule, astronaut John Glenn, pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, is suited up, preparing for the launch. Artist Cecilia Bibby, who painted the Friendship 7 ...

Part 2 explores the dramatically different approaches to the launch systems, and the surprising similarities in the factors that contributed to their success. Although they served very different ...