On April 19, 1959, NASA introduced the seven astronauts who would take part in the Mercury Program. The goal: to put an American into orbit. It was America's first manned space program, and competition for the seven slots had been fierce. Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Walter Schirra, Gordon Cooper, and Donald Slayton were chosen (photo above).
Why not women? The length of time between the first-ever man in space and first woman in space was just over two years between Vostok 1 and Vostok 6, whereas the length of time between the first American man and first American woman in space was 22 years between Freedom 7 and Space Shuttle Challenger STS-7.
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