The first volume of the Space Flight Library is dedicated to the American Mercury project. Its goal was to send the first American into space.
With considerable human, financial and material resources, NASA developed a functional launch vehicle in record time to send the first American, Alan Shepard, into space in 1961. The first successful orbital mission followed in 1962 with John Glenn. This put the Americans on a par in the race for supremacy in space.
The author Eugen Reichl was a long-time employee of a major international manufacturer of launch vehicles and space flight propulsion systems. He is the author of numerous highly regarded publications on space flight and space flight history.
