You are a go. Water systems. Go grades operations. All clear to launch. Mercury capsule. Go. All prestart panel lights are correct. The ready light is on. In the fall of 1958, nasas first administrator, t. Keith glennan, approved project mercury with the goal of sending a man into space and bringing him home safely. And do it before the russians do it. But first, nasa needed a spacecraft. Specifications were sent to 20 companies. Eleven bid on the highly prized contract. And in january, 1959, st. Louisbased Mcdonnell Aircraft Corporation was picked to build what had never been built before. This was irresistible. This was a chance to do something that had never been done. We were just basically out of college. I just graduated a year before. I was part of the electrical power and sequential system. I followed mercury from the very beginning after the contract was signed in 1959, january. What they really asked mcdonnell to do was to take the warhead off of a Ballistic Missile and put o