Hidden Figures Lesson Plan

Summarize Project Mercury and its missions so far. How does it lead to Freedom 7? What happens after Freedom 7? How do these changes affect Langley?

Project Mercury is the country's first manned space program. There were two prior missions that led to the Mercury Freedom 7 manned flight. The first mission, Mercury-Redstone 1, failed on the launchpad. The second mission, Mercury-Redstone 2, carried a chimpanzee. The launch was successful, but the rocket overshot its landing and was nearly underwater by the time it was recovered from the ocean. The third Mercury-Redstone mission carried astronaut Alan Shepard and was broadcast live. Shepard christened his capsule...