<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Mercury" id="mwAQw" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Project Mercury">Project Mercury</a>: The launch of the final Mercury mission, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-Atlas_9" id="mwAQ0" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Mercury-Atlas 9">Mercury-Atlas 9</a> with astronaut <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Cooper" id="mwAQ4" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Gordon Cooper">Gordon Cooper</a> on board. He becomes the first American to spend more than a day in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_space" id="mwAQ8" rel="mw:WikiLink" title="Outer space">space</a>, and the last American to go into space alone.