America’s first seven astronauts were introduced to the public on April 9, 1959. They were: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr, John H. Glenn Jr, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Walter Schirra Jr, Alan Shepard Jr, and Donald Slayton. All seven were military pilots, selected to take part in Project Mercury, America’s first manned space program. The project was run by NASA, which planned to begin manned orbital flights in 1961.