NASA Mercury - 1956 to 1963 (all models): An insight into the design and engineering of Project Mercury - America's first manned space programme (Owners' Workshop Manual)

Although the overall quality of Haynes' new releases seems to be down somewhat this year, this book really impressed me. It's certainly their most in-depth space "manual" yet, even more so than their books on the Lunar Rover and the Apollo 13 mission. Although Dr. Baker wrote extensively about the hardware and engineering of Project Mercury in his 1981 tome "The History of Manned Spaceflight," this is the most detailed book I've ever seen on the spacecraft, official NASA publications excepted. At 204 pages, this is one of those rare Haynes books that has breathing room. The opening chapter goes into some depth about the origin of Project Mercury, and the evolution of blunt-body entry vehicles. The majority of the book is a detailed technical description of the spacecraft hardware and how it worked. Each of the major spacecraft systems receives a few pages of technical description, accompanied by excellent photographs and diagrams. Even the biomedical sensors and posigrade rockets are described in some depth. There's quite a bit of material here I've never seen before, including detailed explanations of how the horizon sensors and periscope worked, and the instrumentation systems of the unmanned capsules. Finally, there's a brief overview of each mission, which discusses the main technical issues encountered and how the spacecraft evolved during the program, descriptions of the Little Joe, Redstone, and Atlas launch vehicles, and a look at the Worldwide Tracking Network (WWTN). The most impressive aspect of this book is the technical drawings, of which there are nearly 150. These range from exploded views and cross-sections, to "breadboard" type diagrams, system block diagrams, wiring charts, and even a few telemetry graphs. You'll find exploded views of cabin air valves, cross-sections of the spacecraft structure, cutaway views of the launch escape tower, and so on. There's even quite a few "workshop manual" type diagrams, with hand-written notes on installation procedures and how many ft-lbs of torque to use when tightening the bolts. There's also numerous diagrams depicting the competing proposals presented in 1959, and a few diagrams showing some interesting ideas put forth at the end of the program, including an orbiting observatory and a micrometeorite collection experiment. If this book has a flaw, it's that it's not as compulsively readable as some of Haynes' other space "manuals," the recent one on the Saturn V being an obvious example. It's an engineering book written by an engineer and meant for serious space buffs only. I read it in a few days, but I imagine most folks could only handle it in small doses. But if you ARE one of those serious buffs, the kind that always wanted to know what the inside of the hatch plunger looked like, you'll probably love it.

This was a very enjoyable read. The book goes into quite a lot of detail about the development of the Mercury capsule and its missions. As a fan of the early NASA missions, this was a must for my collection. The only drawback is that there are many diagrams in the book taken from the original engineering diagrams and text of these diagrams is often too small to read, but I give that pass in that the main text of the book tells you pretty much everything you need to know about America's first steps into outer space.

This book is awesome. It is full of information and is a great book to read for those interested in Project Mercury. Would highly recommend for anyone whose interest in space exploration or machinery in general.

A weath of valuable and sometime rare information for studying the Mercury program

These books are amazing! The level of detail in each specialized book is perfect for anyone interested in the space program and wants more than the superficial information you get on Discovery Channel. Thanks for providing such a great item.

Detailed reference. More for the space geek than the casual reader, but very well done.

Many documentaries gloss over the ins-n-outs of the Mercury Program. This is the deep dive you’ve always wanted. This is the companion you need if you own the Spacecraft Films DVD set…which is extremely hard to find.

Purchased in order to scratch-build a large-scale (1/6th scale) model of the "Friendship Seven" piloted by Colonel John Glenn. This manual has outstanding drawing and photos of the Mercury capsule including the interior and controls. The detail is enough to keep me busy for quite some time.

自由世界初の宇宙船は、「着る」と表現された、ギリギリの小さなサイズ。飛行士の生命、環境維持システム。 信頼性のあるゴツイ動作機構。等、設計した人の意志が伝わってくる、素晴らしい本です。このような本が 手軽に入手出来る、良い時代になりました。私の宝です。 気に入らない処。英語・・・。

El libro llego con una esquina un poco doblada. El libro trata sobre las naves Mercury, con muchas fotos y graficos.

This is the ultimate reference book for all nerds who want to dig a little deeper into the early history of crewed astronautics! I am absolutely fully satisfied. The next logical step would be to buy a real Mercury for yourself... Have fun!

One of the best manuals I've read to date. Huge number of diagrams and explanations of every system that makes up the Mercury Capsule / System / Program. I notice one reviewer found this very technical. True it is, but that worked for me I'm technically minded and loved that I could get a full understanding of what they did. One minor gripe is the limited number of photos inside the cabin. However a visit to the Smithsonian web site filled this gap. Highly recommended.

The book is quite technical which I like. If you are looking for more history you might be disappointed.