1960s Timeline

May 25, 1962 - Now that Lieut. Comdr. Scott Carpenter has duplicated the success of Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. on a three-orbit...

May 24, 1962 - It seems fitting that Lieut. Comdr. Scott Carpenter’s reasons for naming his spacecraft Aurora VII are both lofty and...

May 24, 1962 - President Kennedy said today that the courage of Lieutenant Commander Scott Carpenter and the skill and initiative of his...

May 24, 1962 - The overshoot of Lieut. Comdr. Carpenter’s space capsule (pictured left) was said to have been caused by the fact that the...

May 24, 1962 - Lieutenant Commander Scott Carpenter became today the second American astronaut to orbit the earth. His three-orbit trip...

May 20, 1962 - Lieut. Comdr. Scott Carpenter will be the first American to eat solid food in space, according to present plans for his...

May 17, 1962 - Project Mercury officials announced tonight that the three-orbit flight of Lieut. Comdr. Scott Carpenter (pictured right...

May 11, 1962 - Difficulties with a control system have forced a delay in the scheduled attempt to send Lieut. Comdr. Scott Carpenter...

May 9, 1962 - Tennessee Ernie Ford, who runs a down-to-earth television show, will be seen on Monday playing host to Maj. Gherman S....

May 6, 1962 - Maj. Gherman S. Titov, the Soviet astronaut, proclaimed his disbelief in God today. He said he saw “no God or angels”...

May 3, 1962 - Astronauts of the U.S. and the Soviet Union shared a platform in Washington today to tell an international gathering of...

Apr. 30, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. and Maj. Gherman S. Titov, the Soviet astronaut now visiting this country, will make a...

Apr. 6, 1962 - “Your Share in Space,” is a film that explores the U.S. space program and discusses what NASA is trying to accomplish....

Mar. 30, 1962 - Maj. Donald K. Slayton’s fellow astronauts have appealed to President Kennedy to reverse the decision disqualifying him...

Mar. 15, 1962 - Major Donald K. Slayton (left) of the Air Force has been ordered for medical reasons to withdraw as the Project Mercury...

Mar. 14, 1962 - A group of rowdy youths cursed and scuffled with Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. (pictured with his wife Annie) outside a...

Mar. 3, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. almost lost his composure today when he received several tumultuous receptions in his...

Mar. 1, 1962 - New York poured out its affection for Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. today with bands, banners, and a blizzard of paper so...

Feb. 27, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. warned Congress today that men would lose their lives in the new national endeavor of...

Feb. 26, 1962 - Lieut. Col. John H. Glenn Jr. and his family received a joyous, roaring welcome from their neighbors that almost got out...