The Original Seven Mercury Astronauts Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Three of the original seven Mercury astronauts were test pilots at the legendary Edwards AFB in the California desert when they were recruited to apply for the NASA program. Who were they?

Answer: Cooper, Grissom, Slayton

Also testing planes at Edwards AFB was the iconic Chuck Yeager, who had been the first to break the sound barrier in 1947 as well as accummulating myriad records for distance and speed. NASA officials did not consider Yeager a good candidate because he was not college-educated and was too independent, having referred to astronauts as being "spam in a can." Yeager continued with a stellar career in the USAF, continuing to break records and push the edges of the envelop.

2. Which astronaut graduated from the Naval Academy and became a USN aviator before being selected for the original Mercury Project in 1959? He was chosen to pilot the first Freedom capsule on a non-orbital flight in May 1961.

Answer: Alan Shepard

Shepard became the first American in space flight on May 5, 1961. While sitting on the launch pad, Shepard was heard to pray, "Please, God, don't let me @#$% up." Thereafter, it became known among the astronauts and all pilots as "Shepard's prayer."

3. Which astronaut began flying his family's plane when he was 15, graduated from Annapolis in 1945, and flew during the Korean War? He was the only one of the original Mercury Seven who also flew in the Gemini and Apollo projects.

Answer: Wally Schirra

Schirra became famous for playing "Jingle Bells" on a harmonica during the broadcasts of the December 1965 Gemini 6A mission, and developing a cold during the October 1968 Apollo 7 mission. He served as a news commentator, alongside Walter Cronkite, during the July 1969 moon landing. Before dying in 2007, he co-authored "The Real Space Cowboys" and contributed greatly to "In the Shadow of the Moon."

4. Which astronaut was the last of the original seven to fly into space during the Mercury project? Though last, his 22 orbits and 34.5 hour flight time was greater than those of the previous Mercury pilots combined? He died in 2004, and there was an unsuccessful attempt to launch his ashes into space in 2007.

Answer: Gordon Cooper

Over 200 others had also paid a private company to launch their ashes into space, including James Doohan who is remembered as "Scotty of Star Trek." When the orbit failed, the ashes were recovered and another attempt to launch them was made in 2008 from a NASA Explorer rocket.

However, that attempt was also unsuccessful and the ashes were destroyed when the rocket failed within minutes of launching.

5. Which astronaut was the second American in space, piloting the Liberty Bell 7 in a non-orbital flight in 1961? When the Bell returned to earth, the hatch opened prematurely and he was lifted from the ocean after the capsule sank. Nonetheless, in commanding his Gemini 3 flight in 1964, he named his vessel the Molly Brown -- as in "the unsinkable."

Answer: Gus Grissom

Grissom died in a fire on January 27, 1967, while training and conducting tests for a planned three-man Apollo flight. He was buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The ensuing investigation unearthed many design, materials, wiring and atmospheric problems which may have been the cause of the fire.

The corrections permitted the Apollo program to continue successfully, and in 1969 America put two men on the moon. Neil Armstrong was chosen to be the first man to step onto the moon, but NASA's Chief of Flight Crew Operations, noted that had Grissom lived he would have been assigned the first man on the moon slot.

6. Which astronaut was the second American to orbit the earth on May 24, 1962 and then took a leave from the Mercury program to train as an aquanaut for the Navy's SEALAB Project? In 1964, he suffered an injury which affected mobility in his left arm, requiring his removal from flight status, and he then returned to the SEALAB Project.

Answer: Scott Carpenter

Carpenter had been John Glenn's backup for the first American orbital flight around the earth and is remembered for saying, "Godspeed, John Glenn" at the February 1962 liftoff. Despite two surgeries to repair his arm, Carpenter never returned to space and retired from the Navy in 1969. He founded Sea Sciences, Inc., contining his interest and expertise in ocean exploration.

7. Which astronaut was removed from flight status due to an inner ear condition in 1964? He was able to return to the Astronaut program in 1969, and at the age of 47, commanded the Apollo 14 mission to become the fifth man to walk on the moon.

Answer: Alan Shepard

Shepard's meniere's condition developed after he became America's first man in space on a non-orbital mission. Subsequently, a medical procedure was developed to correct the condition. He was returned to flight status and finally made it to the moon, where he played golf with one arm and wearing bulky spacegloves.

8. Which astronaut had been a fighter pilot during World World II in both the European and Pacific theaters and was the only original astronaut never to fly a Mercury mission? He became a civilian employee 1963, but returned to flight duty in 1972 to command an Apollo shuttle test mission.

Answer: Deke Slayton

Slayton was scheduled to fly the second orbital flight in 1962, but physicians discovered he had a heart condition that led to him being grounded by both NASA and the USAF. Scott Carpenter assumed the assignment and became the second astronaut to orbit the earth.

As Director of Flight Crew Operations and "Chief Astronaut", Slayton's responsibilities included the selection of astronauts and scheduling of those selected to fly missions, including the decision tha Neil Armstrong would be the first man to walk on the moon.

After his return from the 1972 test mission, he returned to a civilian position at NASA and retired in 1982 to found a private corporation to design and build small, commercial-use rockets. He died of a brain tumor in 1993.

9. Which of the original Mercury Seven astronauts retired from the NASA program in 1970, and went public with his long held beliefs in the existence of unidentified flying objects -- also known as "flying saucers" and "extraterrestrial crafts?"

Answer: Gordon Cooper

Cooper advanced his beliefs and claimed other test pilots had also reported seeing extraterrestrial craft in his book "Leap of Faith" and in many public statements. He claimed to have photographed the UFOs and turned the photographs over to the USAF, but they were never made public and he was unable to retrieve them.

He died in 1990 after developing Parkinson's Disease, still believing there was a government conspiracy to cover up evidence of the existence of UFOs. Wally Schirra also spoke openly of his belief in the existence of UFOs.

10. Which astronaut was the only Marine pilot to be accepted into the original Mercury Project, having been a highly-decorated fighter pilot during the Korean War. On his first Mercury flight he discovered the existence of showers of brilliantly-lit flying objects which he called "fireflies."

Answer: John Glenn

John Glenn was, of course, the first American to orbit the earth on February 20, 1962. He retired from the astronaut program in 1964, and became a noted Democrat and U.S. Senator from Ohio. He returned to the space program in 1998, at the age of 77, to fly aboard the Discovery shuttle for nine days and provide data concerning the effects of space travel upon senior citizens. Scott Carpenter, on Mercury's second orbital mission, re-named the lights "frostflies" as it was determined they were the result of ice crystals.

Source: Author drushalli

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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In 1959, seven men were chosen from over 100 applicants to become America's first astronauts in the Mercury Project of the early 1960s. See if you can identify them from the facts provided.

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