Press Conference Introducing 7 Mercury Astronauts 1959 Part 2/3

Less than a year after NASA's birth, the agency introduced its first astronaut class, the Mercury Seven, on April 9, 1959. The press conference held in Washington that day introduced the world to a group of men who would become household names and genuine American heroes. Six of the Original Seven flew Mercury mission; Deke Slayton was grounded by a medical problem but later flew on the Apollo-Soyuz flight.

The Mercury flights proved that humans could live and work in space, and paved the way for the Gemini and Apollo programs as well as for all further human spaceflight.

For the transcript of the conference, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/50th_announcement/mercury_press_conference.pdf

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZ_FHy6nGXA
Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXj5lc_QUOM

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Mercury
• Mercury 7
• NASA
• 50th Anniversary
• Spaceflight

[oconnell471]

Anybody know who that guy "Bob" is? The bald guy behind the speaker.

[whyteay]

@whyteay ..which I might add is a year younger than me so it's nothing to be ashamed of!

[whyteay]

Wally Schirra didn't give his name (and briefly points that out under his breath when Gus Grissom starts talking). Well, this was recorded on April 9 1959, which means Wally was 36!

[squidoogeek]

Very nice but you might want to watch the editing. The man at the end sort of got cut off, and, at the beginning, it sort of sounded like Alan Shepard started in the middle of one of his answers. Thanks for posting this though.