Original Seven Astronauts, 1960

These seven men, wearing spacesuits in this portrait, composed the first group of astronauts announced by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

They were selected in April of 1959 for the Mercury Program. Front row, left to right, are Walter M. Schirra Jr., Donald K. Slayton, John H. Glenn Jr., and M. Scott Carpenter. Back row, left to right, are Alan B. Shepard Jr., Virgil I. Grissom and L. Gordon Cooper Jr.