In 1959, 110 military test pilots were invited by the newly formed National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to volunteer for the first manned space flight program. The first manned mission was scheduled to launch in October 1960 but it was postponed several times. On May 5, 1961 the first Mercury Mission was launched with seven Americans sent into space to orbit the Earth on board Freedom 7. America was not the first to make it into space due to the unplanned delays, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had become the first person to orbit the Earth when the Soviet Union . . . → Read More: 129 Days To Mt. Kilimanjaro – Watching The Space Shuttle Launch