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Project Mercury was the United States' first human spaceflight program. Delmas D. "Del" Burchfield (1926-2016) was an engineer at McDonnell Aircraft Corporation who in 1959 was put in charge of the Outside Production Quality Program monitoring all vendors and subcontractors working on Project Mercury. This collection consists of a signed 11 by 8.5 inch black and white photograph of the seven Project Mercury astronauts, two smaller black and white photographs of Delmas D. "Del" Burchfield taken in the 1960s, and several pages from a handwritten memoir by Burchfield in which he describes his experiences working on Project Mercury and with the astronauts.

 Identifier

NASM.2022.0015

Creator

Burchfield, Delmas D. "Del", 1926-2016

Date

1960s and undated

Provenance

David Burchfield, Gift, 2022, NASM.2022.0015.

Extent

0.01 Cubic feet (1 folder)

Archival Repository

National Air and Space Museum Archives

Scope and Contents

This collection consists of an 11 by 8.5 inch black and white photograph of the seven Project Mercury astronauts, Alan B. Shepard, Jr.; Virgil Ivan "Gus" Grissom; John Herschel Glenn, Jr.; Malcolm Scott Carpenter; Walter Marty "Wally" Schirra, Jr.; Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton; and Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr., each of whom has signed the photograph. The collection also includes two smaller black and white photographs of Delmas D. "Del" Burchfield taken in the 1960s as well as several pages from a handwritten memoir by Burchfield in which he describes his experiences working on Project Mercury and with the astronauts. Note: Images of pages 1 and 6 of the handwritten memoir excerpt have been redacted to remove personal information. The redacted portions do not pertain to Burchfield's work on Project Mercury.

Arrangement note

Collection is in original order.

Rights

Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.

Restrictions

No restrictions on access

Citation

Project Mercury Astronaut Photograph [Burchfield], NASM.2022.0015, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.

Topics

Astronauts

Mercury Project

Type

Collection descriptions

Archival materials

Photographic prints

Manuscripts