Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. The astronauts were collectively known as the Mercury Seven , and each spacecraft was given a name ending with a "7" by its pilot. The name of the program was derived from Mercury, the Roman god of travel. The Mercury program is considered the foundation for subsequent manned space missions, including the Apollo program and the current Artemis program. This mustard yellow jacket was specially prepared for the astronauts. The astronauts were all selected from the Air Force, and the custom patches also reflect this fact. The right chest features the Edwards Air Force Base patch, which was a mecca for test pilots at the time. The Friendship 7 patch on the left chest represents the mission of the Mercury-Atlas 6, which successfully completedraft carrier patch on the left shoulder represents the USS Enterprise (CVAN/CVN-65), the world's first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which played the role of the tracking and telemetry station for the Friendship 7 mission. The XB-70 patch on the left shoulder is a mission patch for the strategic bomber developed by North American Aviation. It was designed as a supersonic strategic nuclear bomber capable of round-trip flights between U.S. territory Alaska and the Soviet Union's capital Moscow without refueling, with a top speed of Mach 3. Development took place at Edwards Air Force Base and was later transferred to NASA, so the pilot of this jacket is believed to have been involved in the XB-70 project as well. The right shoulder features the symbol patch of the Mercury Seven, and the back of the jacket is adorned with other mission patches from the Mercury program: Freedom 7, Liberty Bell 7, Aurora 7, Sigma 7, and Faith 7.