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Mercury program

A program of rocket-powered flights undertaken by the United States with the goal of putting a man in orbit around the Earth. Each Mercury flight carried one astronaut. The program ran from 1961 to 1963 and was named after the Roman god Mercury, the messenger of the gods.

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DISCOVER THE INFLUENCE OF PORTUGUESE ON ENGLISH VIA THIS QUIZ!

We’ve gathered some interesting words donated to English from Portuguese … as well as some that just don’t translate at all. Do you know what they mean?
Question 1 of 11
Which of the following animal names traces its immediate origin to Portuguese?
owl
crow
piranha
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notes for Mercury program

The first United States suborbital flight was made by Alan Shepard in 1961.

notes for Mercury program

In 1962, John Glenn made the first orbital flight by an American astronaut.

Words nearby Mercury program

mercury barometer, mercury chloride, mercury fulminate, mercury mass, mercury poisoning, Mercury program, mercury switch, mercury-vapor lamp, mercury-vapour lamp, mercy, mercy flight
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.