April 8, 2019 - American Idols

American Idols Sixty years ago this week at a news conference in Washington, D.C., NASA’s Administrator, T. Keith Glennan, introduced to the public the seven men chosen to be America’s nominees for the first human voyagers into space. These Project Mercury astronauts were the cream of the crop, survivors of the most stringent and grueling astronaut selection processes ever conducted. With varying degrees of reluctance, the astronauts soon became celebrities and idols to the American public, satisfying the nation’s need for a new breed of hero. The first three Mercury astronauts to fly are seen in this 1961 publicity photo. Left to right: John Glenn, first American to orbit Earth; Virgil “Gus” Grissom, second American to make a suborbital flight; Alan Shepard, first American to make a suborbital flight.

Image Credit: NASA

Weekly Calendar

April 8 - 14, 2019

Holidays - Sky Events - Space History

Monday 8

Ceres appears stationary

1964: Gemini I launched
1966: OAO-1 launched
1993: STS-56 Discovery launched
2002: STS-110 Atlantis launched
2008: ISS Expedition 17 crew launched