Mercury Atlas 8 (MA-8 Sigma 7) was the third manned orbital flight of the Mercury program. The objectives of MA-8 were to evaluate the performance of the man-spacecraft system in a six-pass orbital mission, evaluate the effects of an extended orbital space flight on the astronaut, obtain additional astronaut evaluation of the operational suitability of the spacecraft and support systems for manned orbital flights, evaluate the performance of spacecraft systems replaced or modified as a result of previous three-pass orbital missions and, evaluate the performance of and exercise further the Mercury Worldwide Network and mission support forces and establish their suitability for extended manned flight.