Honored For McDonnell Douglas Work On Mercury Spacecraft

An IEEE Milestone award in Electrical Engineering and Computing from the Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has been presented to Boeing in recognition of the company's work on the Mercury spacecraft.

Mercury Capsules Being Assembled
Photo Provided By Boeing

The Mercury spacecraft, America’s first manned space vehicle, was designed, developed and built by McDonnell Douglas Aircraft, which is a Boeing heritage company, in St. Louis. A total of 20 Mercury spacecraft were delivered to NASA, six of which carried astronauts into space between 1961 and 1963. John Glenn piloted Friendship 7 in the first U.S. human orbital flight on Feb. 20, 1962.

"We are truly honored to receive this recognition and pay tribute to the engineers who worked on the Mercury spacecraft," said Dennis Muilenburg, president and CEO, Boeing Defense, Space & Security. "They helped set a strong foundation on which America's space program continues to grow and thrive. Boeing and our heritage companies have supported human space exploration from the beginning, and our talented, innovative engineers and other employees will continue to build upon this legacy for many years to come."

The award cites electrical and electronic systems invented by McDonnell Douglas Aircraft engineers that made the Mercury flights and future space flights possible. Among the engineers' key contributions were navigation and control instruments, autopilot, rate stabilization and control, and fly-by-wire systems.

The IEEE Milestones in Electrical Engineering and Computing program honors significant technical achievements that occurred at least 25 years ago in technology areas associated with IEEE. To date, more than 100 Milestones have been approved and dedicated around the world. This award also recognizes technological innovation and excellence for the benefit of humanity. IEEE is the world's largest technical professional association.

FMI: www.ieee.org, www.boeing.com