Project Mercury Book

	List of figures
	List of tables
	Author's preface
	Acknowledgements
	List of acronyms
1	A war of ideals	3
2	Dreaming of space	19
3	Preparing for war	30
4	Popularising space flight	44
5	Defining the frontier	59
6	The National Aeronautics and Space Administration	81
7	Astronauts	91
8	Operations Division	113
9	Mercury Spacecraft (Type D)	131
10	Developing the Mercury Spacecraft	149
11	Mercury Spacecraft Earth Landing System	170
12	Launch Escape System	179
13	Handling the Mercury Spacecraft at Cape Canaveral	184
14	The Mercury pressure suit	189
15	Mercury Little Joe	196
16	Mercury Scout	201
17	Mercury Redstone	206
18	Mercury Atlas D	211
19	The race to be first	219
20	Sustained effort	292
21	Scientific experiments	391
22	Recovering Liberty Bell 7	402
23	Project Mercury in retrospect	407
24	Project Mercury as a first step	410
25	Alternative paths	418
App. A	Astronauts' biographies	437
App. B	The 'Mercury 13'	447
App. C	Hardward dimensions	450
App. D	How space flight is achieved	452
App. E	The human element	465
	App. F: Tables	473
	Bibliography and sources	477
	Index	481