Who were the “Mercury Seven”?
Early American Programs
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The “Mercury Seven” were the first people to be selected to the U.S. astronaut corps. They were Walter M. Schirra Jr. (1923–2007), Donald K. “Deke” Slayton (1924–1993), John H. Glenn Jr. (1921–), M. Scott Carpenter (1925–), Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (1923–1998), Virgil “Gus” Grissom (1926–1967), and L. Gordon Cooper Jr. (1927–2004). All became national heroes.