Between 1958 and 1963, when NASA started Project Mercury, LaRC served as the main office of the Space Task Group, with the office being transferred to the Manned Spacecraft Center (now the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) in Houston in 1962–63.
Entre 1958 e 1963, cando a NASA comezou o Proxecto Mercury, no LaRC atopábase a oficina principal do Space Task Group, dita oficina trasladouse entre 1962-63 ao Manned Spacecraft Center (actualmente o Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center) en Houston.