Mercury Seven

The first seven astronauts selected by NASA, announced in 1959 for Project Mercury. Their selection established the original American astronaut corps for human spaceflight.

Alan Shepard: An American naval aviator and astronaut who became the first American in space. He was the first Mercury Seven astronaut to fly in space.
NASA Astronaut Group 1: The seven astronauts NASA selected in 1959 as its first astronaut group. This is NASA’s formal name for the Mercury Seven selection.
Freedom 7: The Mercury spacecraft flown by Alan Shepard on the first American crewed spaceflight in 1961. Shepard’s suborbital flight opened the group’s record of space missions.
The Right Stuff: A 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the test pilots and astronauts of the early American space program. It made the Mercury Seven emblematic of a particular ideal of courage and skill.
John Glenn: An American Marine Corps aviator and astronaut who became the first American to orbit Earth. His 1962 orbital flight made him the most famous member of the group.
Project Mercury: NASA’s first human spaceflight program, which flew six crewed missions from 1961 to 1963. The seven astronauts were chosen to carry out its crewed missions.
Liberty Bell 7: The Mercury spacecraft flown by Virgil Grissom on a suborbital flight in 1961. Grissom’s mission was the second crewed Mercury flight.
Astronaut (film): A 1983 film adaptation of Tom Wolfe’s account of the early American astronauts. The film carried the group’s story to a wider popular audience.
Virgil Grissom: An American astronaut who flew on the Mercury and Gemini programs and died in the Apollo 1 fire. His Mercury flight and later death shaped the group’s legacy.
Astronaut selection: The process of choosing candidates for spaceflight training and missions. NASA’s demanding 1959 selection process created the group.

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