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Nicknames and Designations

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MA-11, GT-3, AS-205, LEM-1 ASTP, STS-31. Without official or unofficial names, the designations in the previous sentence would be the titular of every capsule, shuttle, or lunar lander in the tome of American manned spacecraft.

Nicknames and designations in the American manned space program began along with the birth of the Mercury program. Alan Shepherd named his Mercury capsule Freedom 7(however, this tradition really started at the dawn of man when he first began building boats and naming them). All seven of the Mercury astronauts named their capsules, and they all used the number seven after the name. They used the number seven to signify the teamwork that was involved in putting men into space.

Following Freedom 7, Gus Grissom named his capsule, Liberty Bell 7(it even had a crack painted on the side, something that he probably regretted later). After Grissom, John Glenn would become the first American to orbit the Earth. His capsule was named Friendship 7. The fourth American into space, Scott Carpenter, would name his capsule Aurora 7. Next, Wally Schirra named his capsule Sigma 7, a reference to the math and precision involved in his mission. The final Mercury mission was named Faith 7, which was flown by Gordon Cooper. Many believed that Cooper’s designation was more of a hope that his capsule would stay in one piece during his flight than any serious look into man’s faith. Deke Slayton, the only Mercury astronaut who didn’t fly into space in a Mercury capsule, had planned to name his spacecraft Delta 7. “Delta,” is a reference to the term Delta-vee, which means a change in velocity.

Unfortunately, after Faith 7, NASA’s patience was wearing thin when it came to astronauts naming their spacecraft. The Mercury flights would be the only capsules officially named until Apollo. This would not however stop astronaut Gus Grissom from naming his next capsule. Gus Grissom, along with John Young, would be the first to test the new Gemini spacecraft. In honor of his last spacecraft, Liberty Bell 7, which sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, Grissom wanted to name his Gemini, “ The Unsinkable Molly Brown.” NASA, of course, was against this idea. Eventually, Grissom toned down the name, and the capsule was called just “Molly Brown”(“Gus Mobile” was another name that floated around at the time). This, however, was the last straw as far as NASA’s administration was concerned. NASA then, as they are now, was extremely concerned with morale and controlling the message that their astronauts portray.

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