Man in Space Soonest

The Man In Space Soonest (MISS) program was a plan made by the United States Air Force. The goal was to send a person into outer space before the Soviet Union. This happened during an exciting time when countries were trying to do new things in space. They wanted to be the first to put a human in space.

But the program stopped on August 1, 1958, before it could really start. It was replaced by a new project called Project Mercury, organized by NASA. Even though MISS didn’t continue, two of the people picked for it later went to space.

The first person from the MISS program to go to space was Joseph A. Walker. He flew in an airplane called the X-15 in 1963. He reached very high altitudes that count as space. Later, Neil Armstrong, another MISS participant, became a NASA astronaut. He flew on missions like Gemini 8 and then became the first person to step on the Moon during Apollo 11. These achievements showed how important early space programs were for human exploration.

Astronaut candidates

The Man In Space Soonest program wanted to send a person into space using a Thor or Atlas rocket. On June 25, 1958, the Air Force chose nine men to be astronauts for this program.

These astronauts included Neil A. Armstrong, who later joined NASA's astronauts and flew on missions like Gemini 8 and Apollo 11, walking on the Moon. Others in the group were William B. Bridgeman, A. Scott Crossfield, Iven C. Kincheloe, John B. McKay, Robert A. Rushworth, Joseph A. Walker, Alvin S. White, and Robert M. White. Joseph Walker was the first to reach space on two X-15 test flights.