Auction Name: 2026 March 21 Space Exploration Showcase Auction

Lot Number: 71039

Shortcut to Lot: HA.com/33172*71039

Mercury-Atlas 7 (Aurora 7): "Results of the Second United States Manned Orbital Space Flight (May 24, 1962)". NASA Publication SP-6 (Washington, D.C. US Government Printing Office). 8" x 10.25", printed wrappers (light blue), 204 pages. Profusely illustrated with diagrams, telemetry plots, schematics, mission sequence data, and post-flight analysis charts. Front cover features a stylized graphic of the spacecraft and recovery scene, with the distinctive NASA emblem at lower right. The Aurora 7 mission was America's second manned orbital flight, piloted by astronaut Scott Carpenter. Issued by the Manned Spacecraft Center shortly after the mission, this substantial report presents the authoritative scientific and engineering findings from one of Project Mercury's most scrutinized flights. Of particular interest to researchers is NASA's analytical treatment of the attitude-control fuel usage and re-entry alignment issues, which influenced subsequent Mercury and Gemini operational procedures. Very fine.

NASA SP-series reports from the Mercury era are foundational documents in American human-spaceflight history. SP-6 is especially desirable given the mission's complexity and its place in the evolution of astronaut-controlled orbital flight. Scarce in this condition.

Include Thumbnail(s)