[Project Mercury]

RARE PROJECT MERCURY LETTERHEAD SIGNED BY ALL 7 MERCURY ASTRONAUTS.

Project Mercury's goal was to put a human into Earth orbit and it was the U.S.'s first human spaceflight program, running 1958-1963. The astronauts were based at NASA's Space Task Group offices at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for much of that time. Kennedy's announcement of the Apollo Program and goal to land a man on the Moon necessitated an expanded organization and much larger facility. Johnson Space Center (originally Manned Spacecraft Center) was started shortly thereafter, and astronauts even began working out of trailers set on the new location as early as 1962.

The present piece was signed well before first crewed flight, but there was already building excitement - especially after the in-depth coverage in LIFE Magazine in the September 14, 1959 issue.