Mercury Project

The first US manned space flight program.

The program was initiated in 1958 in response to the Soviet Union's 1957 launch of Sputnik 1, the world's first artificial satellite. Seven astronauts, the so-called "Right Stuff" team, were trained for the first mission, which would become America's first foray into space.

The Boss was launched into space in an unofficial test run of the Mercury project. At the time, technology was not advanced enough to shield astronauts from cosmic radiation, and The Boss was chosen because she had already been exposed to an atomic blast. The Boss thus became the first person to view Earth from space.