Live support chatAmerica's Greatest Projects - Project Mercury
In America’s Greatest Projects – Project Mercury, you'll learn ...
- What was the Mercury Project’s mission
- How engineers and contractors overcame early failures in the project
- The political landscape surrounding the Mercury Project
- Basic principles of missile and rocket design
Overview
Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.
Credit: 5 PDH
Length: 52 pages
Following World War II and the Korean War, war-weary America was then faced with the aggression and potential military combativeness of the Soviet Union in what became known as the "Cold War". The French, seeking peace through worldwide technical cooperation, proposed an International Geophysical Year. The IGY, which was to begin in the summer of 1957, had as one of its primary objectives to launch satellites that would orbit the Earth and greatly improve worldwide communications.
Initially the U. S. Government and population seemed somewhat disinterested until the Soviets launched Sputnik 1 in the fall of 1957. This singular event triggered the "Space Race" between America and the Soviet Union. After a slow beginning, caused in part by the desire of America's armed forces to participate in various forms of space endeavors, NASA was created.
Once again American engineers achieved phenomenal success through the implementation of Project Mercury, a project that many viewed with skepticism. This latest course in the series of America's Greatest Projects describes the nearly overwhelming challenges that were encountered by the engineers and their contractors. Some of the events leading up to Project Mercury that culminated with American engineers orbiting the Earth may be familiar to the readers. This course, however, offers more insight and chronicles those events, beginning with the development of liquid-fuel rockets.
Specific Knowledge or Skill Obtained
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Why the USA moved forward with the Mercury Project despite indifference and a minimum of public and government support
- Why the USSR was able to outpace the USA in the early years of the "Space Race”
- The effort required to place the space program under one responsible agency
- How leadership played a major factor in one of the most significant projects in the history of the United States
- The contributions of the pioneering engineers on Project Mercury who were years ahead of their time
- The obstacles that confronted the Project Mercury Team and their consistent efforts to overcome early failures
- How the success of Project Mercury moved the USA into a leadership role and enabled America to place a man on the moon by July of 1969.
Certificate of Completion
You will be able to immediately print a certificate of completion after passing a multiple-choice quiz consisting of 30 questions. PDH credits are not awarded until the course is completed and quiz is passed.
| This course is applicable to professional engineers in: | ||
| Alabama (P.E.) | Alaska (P.E.) | Arkansas (P.E.) |
| Delaware (P.E.) | District of Columbia (P.E.) | Florida (P.E. Area of Practice) |
| Georgia (P.E.) | Idaho (P.E.) | Illinois (P.E.) |
| Illinois (S.E.) | Indiana (P.E.) | Iowa (P.E.) |
| Kansas (P.E.) | Kentucky (P.E.) | Louisiana (P.E.) |
| Maine (P.E.) | Maryland (P.E.) | Michigan (P.E.) |
| Minnesota (P.E.) | Mississippi (P.E.) | Missouri (P.E.) |
| Montana (P.E.) | Nebraska (P.E.) | Nevada (P.E.) |
| New Hampshire (P.E.) | New Jersey (P.E.) | New Mexico (P.E.) |
| New York (P.E.) | North Carolina (P.E.) | North Dakota (P.E.) |
| Ohio (P.E. Self-Paced) | Oklahoma (P.E.) | Oregon (P.E.) |
| Pennsylvania (P.E.) | South Carolina (P.E.) | South Dakota (P.E.) |
| Tennessee (P.E.) | Texas (P.E.) | Utah (P.E.) |
| Vermont (P.E.) | Virginia (P.E.) | West Virginia (P.E.) |
| Wisconsin (P.E.) | Wyoming (P.E.) | |
Preview a portion of this course before purchasing it.
Credit: 5 PDH
Length: 52 pages
