Man In Space Soonest (MISS) was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

(USAF) program to put a man into

outer space Outer space, commonly shortened to space, is the expanse that exists beyond Earth and its atmosphere and between celestial bodies. Outer space is not completely empty—it is a near-perfect vacuum containing a low density of particles, pred ...

before the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The program was cancelled on August 1, 1958, and was replaced by

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

's Project Mercury. Only two men from the program would actually reach outer space. The first,

Joseph A. Walker Joseph Albert Walker (February 20, 1921 – June 8, 1966) (Capt, USAF) was an American World War II pilot, experimental physicist, NASA test pilot, and astronaut who was the first person to fly an airplane to space. He was one of twelve pilots ...

, did so two or three times (depending on the definition of the space border) in X-15 rocket plane tests in 1963. The other,

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

, became a

NASA astronaut The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...

in 1962, flew on Gemini 8 in 1966, and in 1969 on

Apollo 11 Apollo 11 (July 16–24, 1969) was the American spaceflight that first landed humans on the Moon. Commander Neil Armstrong and lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo Lunar Module ''Eagle'' on July 20, 1969, at 20:17 UTC, an ...

becoming the first person to walk on the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

Astronaut candidates

MISS would have used a

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

booster, then later an

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of maps of Earth or of a region of Earth. Atlases have traditionally been bound into book form, but today many atlases are in multimedia formats. In addition to presenting geographic ...

, to launch a single-man spacecraft into orbit. On June 25, 1958, the Air Force announced the following nine men selected to be astronauts for the program:MISS' selection date
* Neil A. Armstrong (1930–2012), 27, NACA. The only member of the group to join the NASA Astronaut Corps. Flew on Gemini 8 and

missions; performed the first docking of two spacecraft, was the first—along with

Buzz Aldrin Buzz Aldrin (; born Edwin Eugene Aldrin Jr.; January 20, 1930) is an American former astronaut, engineer and fighter pilot. He made three spacewalks as pilot of the 1966 Gemini 12 mission. As the Lunar Module ''Eagle'' pilot on the 1969 A ...

—to land on the

, and was the first person to set foot on the Moon. * William B. Bridgeman (1916–1968), 42,

Douglas Aircraft Company The Douglas Aircraft Company was an American aerospace manufacturer based in Southern California. It was founded in 1921 by Donald Wills Douglas Sr. and later merged with McDonnell Aircraft in 1967 to form McDonnell Douglas; it then operated as ...

* A. Scott Crossfield (1921–2006), 36,

North American Aviation North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included: the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F ...

(NAA) *

Iven C. Kincheloe Iven Carl "Kinch" Kincheloe Jr. (July 2, 1928 – July 26, 1958) was an American pilot. He served in the U.S. Air Force during the Korean War, in which he was recognized as a flying ace. He continued as a test pilot after the war, participating ...

(1928–1958), 29, USAF *

John B. McKay John Barron McKay (December 8, 1922 – April 27, 1975) was an American naval officer, World War II pilot, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, and astronaut. He was one of twelve pilots who flew the North American X-15, an experimental spaceplane ...

(1922–1975), 35, NACA *

Robert A. Rushworth Robert Aitken "Bob" Rushworth (October 9, 1924 – March 18, 1993) was an American United States Air Force major general, World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War pilot, mechanical and aeronautical engineer, test pilot and astronaut. He was one o ...

(1924–1993), 33, USAF *

(1921–1966), 37, NACA. The first member of the group to achieve outer space according to the FAI, and to enter space twice, on two X-15 test flights. *

Alvin S. White Alvin Swauger White (December 9, 1918 – April 29, 2006) was an American test pilot and mechanical engineer. He flew the maiden flights of both XB-70 Valkyrie aircraft, the first flight, and all subsequent Mach 3 exploration flights. Biography ...

(1918–2006), 39, NAA * Robert M. White (1924–2010), 33, USAF. The first member of the group to achieve outer space according to the USAF.

References

External links

Encyclopedia Astronautica entry
* {{US human spaceflight programs , before=''none'' , after=

Mercury Mercury commonly refers to: * Mercury (planet), the nearest planet to the Sun * Mercury (element), a metallic chemical element with the symbol Hg * Mercury (mythology), a Roman god Mercury or The Mercury may also refer to: Companies * Merc ...

Abandoned military projects of the United States Human spaceflight Neil Armstrong Proposed spacecraft 1958 in spaceflight 1958 in the United States

Astronaut candidates

See also

References

External links