In the 1950s the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first man made satellite.  Suddenly the Cold War turned into the Space Race.  Project Mercury was the U.S.A answer to getting a man into space as soon as possible.  This episode delves into the beginning of the Space Race, and introduces the first astronauts from the United States!  

Sources:

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/chasing-moon-wernher-von-braun-and-nazis/

https://time.com/5627637/nasa-nazi-von-braun/

https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/space-race

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/sputnik-launched

Shepard, Alan, et al. Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America’s Race to the Moon. Open Road, 1994.

Wolfe, Tom. The Right Stuff. New York, Picador, 1979.

https://www.space.com/24481-deke-slayton.html

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Wally-Schirra

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Alan-B-Shepard-Jr

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Virgil-I-Grissom

https://www.nasa.gov/audience/forstudents/k-4/stories/nasa-knows/who-is-john-glenn-k4.html

https://www.nasa.gov/astronautprofiles/carpenter/

https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gordon-Cooper

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/objectives.html

https://www.space.com/17385-alan-shepard-first-american-in-space.html

https://history.nasa.gov/friendship7/

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2016/11/17/this-is-why-objects-burn-when-they-re-enter-the-atmosphere/?sh=22f1213d6963

Kluger, Jeffrey. Apollo 8: The Thrilling Story of the First Mission to the Moon. New York, Henry Holt and Company, 2017.

https://www.americaspace.com/2015/05/24/flight-of-the-aurora-remembering-the-mission-of-scott-carpenter-part-2/

Kranz, Gene. Failure is not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond. Simon and Schuster, 2000.

https://www.space.com/24461-wally-schirra.html