THE MERCURY SEVEN: CHOOSING AMERICA'S FIRST ASTRONAUTS

In April 1959, NASA introduced seven military test pilots to the world — and invented the
American astronaut on the spot.

THE SEARCH

NASA screened the records of more than 500 military test pilots, looking for a very specific combination: engineering skill, flight experience, and the ability to stay calm while strapped to a machine nobody had flown before.

The finalists endured a battery of medical and psychological testing that bordered on the surreal.

APRIL 9, 1959

At a press conference in Washington, NASA introduced Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton.

The reporters stood and applauded before a single one of them had flown anywhere. Overnight, seven working test pilots became the most famous men in America.

THE TEMPLATE

Everything we associate with the word 'astronaut' — the crew cut confidence, the corvettes, the calm voice on the loop — was invented by and around these seven.

Six of them flew Mercury missions. Slayton, grounded by a heart condition, waited sixteen years and finally flew in 1975.

BEFORE ANYONE COULD WALK ON THE MOON, SOMEONE HAD TO DEFINE WHAT AN ASTRONAUT EVEN WAS.