Mercury Seven
The launch of Sputnik 1 on the 4th of October 1957, sent shockwaves through Washington. American intelligence analysts feared the Soviets planned to put a man into orbit next. The United States Air Force launched a project called Man in Space Soonest with $133 million in funding requests. Technical challenges and military ambiguity caused this effort to stall. President Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to create a new civilian agency instead. NASA formed on the 1st of October 1958, absorbing the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. Robert R. Gilruth led the newly established Space Task Group at Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. Abe Silverstein suggested naming the human spaceflight project Mercury. T. Keith Glennan announced the name publicly on the 17th of December 1958. This date marked the 55th anniversary of the Wright Brothers' first flight. The goal was clear: launch a man into Earth orbit and return him safely.
A three-man panel drew up civil service job specifications for astronauts in late 1958. Charles J. Donlan, Warren J. North, and Allen O. Gamble proposed grades 12 to 15 with salaries between $8,330 and $12,770 annually. They restricted candidates to military test pilots to simplify security and selection. Fifty-eight Air Force officers, forty-seven Navy officers, five Marines, and thirty-five Army personnel met initial standards from 508 total records. Sixty-nine candidates gathered at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on the 2nd of February 1959. Admiral Arleigh Burke welcomed Navy and Marine Corps officers while General Thomas D. White addressed Air Force officers. Psychologists George E. Ruff and Edwin Z. Levy evaluated mental fitness alongside medical screenings by William S. Augerson. Albert H. Schwichtenberg directed grueling physical tests at the Lovelace Clinic from January to March 1959. Candidates endured hours on treadmills, ice water submersion, castor oil doses, and enemas. Only Jim Lovell was eliminated medically at this stage due to a diagnosis later found incorrect. NASA ultimately selected seven men instead of the planned six.
Scott Carpenter joined the U.S. Navy in 1949 and flew Lockheed P-2 Neptune patrol aircraft. He graduated from Naval Test Pilot School with Class 13 in 1954. John Glenn served as a fighter pilot in the Pacific during World War II and shot down three MiG-15s in Korea. He qualified as a test pilot with Class 12 in 1954 before making the first supersonic transcontinental flight across the United States in 1957. Gordon Cooper flew F-84 Thunderjets and F-86 Sabres in Germany for four years after joining the USAF in 1949. Gus Grissom completed 100 combat missions over Europe and the Pacific during World War II as an F-86 Sabre pilot. Walter Marty Schirra saw service on exchange with the USAF as a fighter pilot in the Korean War, flying 90 combat missions. Alan Bartlett Shepard graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1944 and qualified as a test pilot in 1950. Donald Kent Slayton joined the US Army Air Corps in 1942 and flew combat missions over Europe and the Pacific.
Two hundred reporters overflowed the room used for the 9th of April 1959 announcement in Washington, DC. Time magazine compared the seven men to Columbus, Magellan, Daniel Boone, and the Wright brothers. Reporters asked questions about personal lives instead of war records or flight experience. Glenn spoke eloquently on God, country, and family while others followed his example. Carpenter received applause when noting his wife Rene accepted his selection while he was at sea. Cooper's wife Trudy had left him in January 1959 after an affair but agreed to pretend they were happily married for public appearances. NASA hired agent C. Leo DeOrsey in August 1959 to negotiate an exclusive contract with Life magazine for $500,000. Each astronaut received $71,428.71 between August 1959 and the 15th of May 1963. They shared proceeds equally regardless of who flew first. General Motors executive Ed Cole presented Shepard with a brand-new Chevrolet Corvette. Jim Rathmann convinced Cole to turn this into a marketing campaign allowing astronauts to lease Corvettes for one dollar per year.
The Mercury spacecraft remained less finished than previous vehicles before the astronauts joined its development. After watching an Atlas rocket explode during launch on the 18th of May 1959, they joked gallows humorously that someone would die during Project Mercury. Carpenter assumed responsibility for communications and navigation systems using his training in airborne electronics. Grissom handled attitude control systems based on his mechanical engineering degree. Glenn oversaw cockpit layout drawing from experience flying many aircraft types. Schirra managed life support systems and pressure suits while Shepard tracked recovery operations as a Naval officer. Cooper and Slayton dealt with Redstone Arsenal and Convair regarding booster construction. The group insisted on installing a window and pressing for greater autonomy in flight controls. Astronauts earned monthly flight pay ranging from $190 to $245 supplementing their base military salaries. They avoided spending money while traveling due to insufficient per diem allowances covering hotel and meal costs.
Schirra became the only astronaut to fly Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. He resigned from NASA and retired from the U.S. Navy with Captain rank in 1969. Later he joined CBS News as Walter Cronkite's co-anchor for Apollo Moon landing broadcasts. Shepard commanded Apollo 14 in 1971 becoming the fifth man to walk on the Moon. He was promoted to Rear Admiral making him the first astronaut to reach this rank before retiring in 1974. Glenn served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1974 to 1999. While serving as senator he flew on STS-95 mission in October-November 1998 at age 77. This made him the oldest person to orbit Earth at that time until his death in 2016 at age 95. Slayton returned to flight status in July 1970 flying on Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975. The group founded the Mercury Seven Foundation in 1984 raising money for college scholarships. It renamed itself Astronaut Scholarship Foundation in 1995 with Shepard elected president until Jim Lovell took over.
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Common questions
Who were the Mercury Seven astronauts selected in 1959?
The seven men chosen for Project Mercury were Scott Carpenter, John Glenn, Gordon Cooper, Gus Grissom, Walter Marty Schirra, Alan Bartlett Shepard, and Donald Kent Slayton. These individuals were drawn from military test pilot records to meet strict civil service job specifications issued by NASA.
When did NASA officially announce the selection of the Mercury Seven group?
NASA announced the final selection of the seven astronauts on the 9th of April 1959 during a press conference in Washington DC. This announcement followed months of psychological evaluations and physical tests conducted at the Lovelace Clinic between January and March 1959.
What specific criteria determined eligibility for the Mercury Seven astronaut program?
Candidates had to be military test pilots with grades ranging from 12 to 15 and salaries between $8,330 and $12,770 annually. The three-man panel restricted the pool to active duty officers from the Air Force, Navy, Marines, and Army who met rigorous medical and mental fitness standards.
How much money did each member of the Mercury Seven receive from their Life magazine contract?
Each astronaut received $71,428.71 from an exclusive contract negotiated by agent C. Leo DeOrsey between August 1959 and the 15th of May 1963. They shared these proceeds equally regardless of which individual flew first or how many missions they completed.
Which Mercury Seven astronaut became the oldest person to orbit Earth before his death in 2016?
John Glenn served as a Democratic U.S. Senator from Ohio from 1974 to 1999 and later flew on STS-95 mission in October-November 1998 at age 77. He held the record for the oldest person to orbit Earth until his death in 2016 at age 95.