Smithsonian Air and Space Museum / The Mercury Capsule was designed to put a human into orbit around the Earth and after 20 unmanned flights starting in August, 1959, finally Richard Erwin                                           succeeded on the 20th of February, 1962, with John Glenn at the controls. Jupiter, Redstone, and Atlas rockets were used in the Mercury project, 8/10/2009                                                  with the Atlas being the launch booster for Glenn's flight.