Project Mercury Test Flights - Retro Documentary, Historical Narration and Footage, 1959-61, NASA

Documentary about the Project Mercury test flights, entirely based on period narration and footage. Starting with static engine tests of the Redstone and Altas rockets, we then see Little Joe flights and capsule recovery, ending with the crewed flights of Sheppard and Grissom. Historical narration (from several documentaries and progress reports) is used in an attempt to show the feeling of the times. Language and attitudes must be seen in that context. For example, test failures are minimized or simply not commented, while a modern approach would be more forthcoming. The footage was AI remastered on some segments, besides the usual color correction. Ambient audio was recreated based on historical elements. Sequences are shown in proper mission context as much as possible. Research, cleanup, editing, and processing by Retro Space HD. ============================================ CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 08:57 Little Joe 1 09:09 Big Joe 1 12:54 Little Joe 6 13:07 Little Joe 1A 14:58 Little Joe 2 15:18 Little Joe 1B 16:23 Beach Abort 17:45 Mercury-Atlas 1 18:14 Little Joe 5 18:33 Mercury-Redstone 1 20:00 Mercury-Redstone 1A 20:32 Mercury-Redstone 2 22:46 Mercury-Atlas 2 23:16 Little Joe 5A 23:39 Mercury-Redstone BD 23:48 Mercury-Atlas 3 26:10 Little Joe 5B 27:06 Mercury-Redstone 3 29:28 Mercury-Redstone 4 32:26 Mercury-Atlas 4 34:17 Mercury-Scout 1 35:02 Mercury-Atlas 5 ========================================= A special thanks to the channel supporters (   / retrospacehd   ): Asbjørn Drew Granston Francis Bernier Gary Smith Gio Pagliari Glenn Hussey Jan Strzelecki Jeff Pleimling Jules E Kevin Spencer Michael Pennington Nathan Koga Noah Soderquist Ryan Hardy Scott Manley ======================================== #projectmercury #littlejoe #nasa