Project Mercury

Have you ever seen the Friendship 7 capsule at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum? I was shocked. It was so small and fragile looking. The astronauts called it a flying trash can and they were right. Inside the technology was very primitive, a bunch of metal toggle switches, knobs and a few dials. You gain an appreciation for the courage it took to strap yourself into a chair sitting atop a ballistic missile and let them shoot you into space. I grew up enthralled with the space program, building models of the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo rockets, watching all the blast offs and recoveries. It’s a shame that although the technology has improved so much, the space program isn’t generating the same kind of excitement with today’s young people.