The Right Stuff? The Project Mercury Astronauts Quiz

Answer: April 9, 1959

On April 9, 1959 in Washington DC they were introduced in an overfilled room to 200 reporters. Because they wore civilian clothes, no questions were asked about their military careers. All the questions related to personal information or Project Mercury details.

Answer: Mercury Seven

They were introduced as the Mercury Seven by NASA, but unofficially they were called both the Original Seven and/or Astronaut Group 1. "Life" magazine in an exclusive deal signed in August 1959 called them the Magnificent Seven. "The Right Stuff" is a 1979 book by Tom Wolfe about the more colorful life of the Mercury astronauts.

The book was also adapted into a movie 1n 1983, "The Right Stuff".

Answer: Gender (sex)

President Dwight D. Eisenhower wanted all of them to be military test pilots. NASA wanted all of the following, be jet qualified with 1,500 hours of flight time. They also had to have a bachelor's degree or higher in science or engineering and had to meet a height qualification of less than 5' 11" and weigh less than 180 pounds, due to capsule size. Also specified was age between 25 and 40. Gender was not a stated requirement, but at the time there were no military female test pilots. Also disqualified at this time was Chuck Yeager (no degree) and Neil Armstrong because he was a civilian out of US Navy service.

They selected three US Air Force, three US Navy and one US Marine test pilots to this group.

Answer: Alan Shepard

Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. was launched for first time on 5 May 1961 aboard Freedom 7 in a suborbital flight that lasted 15 minutes 22 seconds. His second and final flight was as commander of Apollo 14 where he became the fifth man to walk on the moon. Yuri Gagarin was the first person in space as a Russia cosmonaut and to orbit the earth on 12 April, 1961.

Answer: Gus Grissom

Virgil Ivan (Gus) Grissom flew a suborbital flight in Liberty Bell 7 lasting 15 minutes 37 seconds on 21 July, 1961. He flew for a second and final time in space as command pilot of Gemini 3 the first space craft to change orbital plane. He later died in the Apollo 1 launch pad fire one month before the planned launch. Valentina Tereshkova , a Russian cosmonaut, was the first woman in space on Vostok 6 in June 1963.

Answer: John Glenn

John Herschel Glenn, Jr became the first American to orbit the Earth. He completed 3 orbits lasting 4 hours 55 minutes 23 seconds on February 20,1962 aboard Friendship 7. He retired from NASA and the US Marines, later becoming a senator for Ohio and flew for a second time aboard STS-95 Discovery, becoming the oldest person in space flight. Robert Stewart was the first astronaut from the US Army, 19 years after the 3 US Navy, 3 US Air Force and 1 US Marine (John Glenn) of the Mercury astronauts.

Answer: Scott Carpenter

Malcolm Scott Carpenter was launched 24 May 1962 making 3 orbits in Aurora Seven lasting 4 hours 56 minutes 5 seconds. This was his one and only time in space. Sally Ride became the first American woman in space on STS-7 Challenger on June 18, 1983; she was preceded into space by two Russian female cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova (1963) and Svetlana Savitskaya (1982).

Answer: Wally Schirra

Walter Marty (Wally) Schirra, Jr. first flew on board Sigma Seven completing six orbits on 3 October, 1962 for a flight time of 9 hours 13 minutes 15 seconds. His Gemini flight was command pilot of Gemini 6A in December 1965 that rendezvous in space with Gemini 7. His final flight was as commander of Apollo 7 the first manned Apollo flight in October 1968.

Answer: Gordon Cooper

Leroy Gordon (Gordo) Cooper, Jr. flew for 1 day 10 hours 19 minutes 49 seconds. He was launched on 15 May 1963, orbiting the earth 22 times in Faith Seven. He was also the Command Pilot of Gemini 5 in August 1965 the first space mission to spend more than a week in space (8 full days).

Answer: Deke Slayton

Donald Kent (Deke) Slayton was grounded in 1962 with an atrial fibrillation (an irregular heart rhythm), but stayed with NASA becoming Director of Flight Crew Operations (in charge of assigning crews to space missions). At age 51 after medical clearance, he was Docking Module Pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1975, at that time making him the oldest person to fly in space. John Young (53) on STS-9 Columbia in 1983 and then John Glenn (77) a fellow Mercury astronaut in 1988 on STS-95 Discovery both broke this record.