The seven who had The Right Stuff
The pioneering astronauts who were chosen by NASA to head into space as part of the Mercury programme are all smiles for the LIFE Magazine photographer. They had been selected after an arduous series of physical and psychological tests and were deemed to be medically fit (although Deke Slayton, centre right, was later scrubbed from his mission). The also were no more than 5ft 11 inches tall, a height restriction imposed by the small size of the Mercury capsule.
The trail blazed by the Mercury pioneers was later documented by Tom Wolfe, in ‘The Right Stuff’ (1979).
The seven who had The Right Stuff
The pioneering astronauts who were chosen by NASA to head into space as part of the Mercury programme are all smiles for the LIFE Magazine photographer. They had been selected after an arduous series of physical and psychological tests and were deemed to be medically fit (although Deke Slayton, centre right, was later scrubbed from his mission). The also were no more than 5ft 11 inches tall, a height restriction imposed by the small size of the Mercury capsule.
The trail blazed by the Mercury pioneers was later documented by Tom Wolfe, in ‘The Right Stuff’ (1979).