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.

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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

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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

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#projectmercury #littlejoe #nasa