Project Mercury Astronauts Named

April 2, 1959

Chosen from a field of 110 candidates, seven test pilots—Air Force Capts. L. Gordon Cooper Jr., Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom, and Donald K. “Deke” Slayton; Navy Lt. Cmdrs. Walter M. Schirra Jr. and Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Lt. M. Scott Carpenter; and Marine Lt. Col. John H. Glenn Jr.—are announced as the Project Mercury astronauts.

Related Content

New Air Force One Will be 2-3 Years Late; Battle Brewing Over KC-Y

May 19, 2022
The "Air Force One" replacement will be two to three years late due to pandemic issues, testing, and the loss of a subcontractor on the interior, USAF officials reported at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. They were also warned that some HASC members will insist on a competition for…

Space Force Prepares for Decision on Indo-Pacific Command Service Component

May 19, 2022
The Space Force is nearing a Secretary of Defense decision that would create a component command at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, a move that would strengthen space integration in the combatant command responsible for defending the U.S. against threats from China, said Space Force Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, deputy chief…

Congress Approves $40B in Ukraine Aid, Just as Previous Funding Runs Out

May 19, 2022
The Defense Department authorized another $100 million in security assistance for Ukraine on May 19, reaching the limits of President Joe Biden’s existing drawdown authorities—just as the Senate passed a massive $40 billion aid package to extend them. All told, the DOD has now given Ukraine $4.6 billion in security…

Cost of B-52 Re-Engining Jumps By Half in New Estimate of Refit

May 19, 2022
The cost of the B-52 re-engining program has increased 50 percent because of integration issues, according to revelations in a House Armed Services panel hearing. The B-52 Commercial Engine Replacement Program has been conducted as a middle-tier acquisition program to get underway rapidly and develop a prototype system but is…

Eielson Celebrates Completion of F-35 Beddown, More Progress to Come

May 19, 2022
Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, celebrated the beddown of its full complement of F-35s with a ceremony just weeks after the base received the last of its 54 fighters. The arrival of those F-35s in mid-April gave Eielson the Air Force’s second fully equipped, combat-coded F-35 wing, comprising two fighter…

Hypersonic Missile Defense ‘A Few Years’ Away, Top Brass Tell Senators

May 18, 2022
The Senate Armed Services subcommittee on strategic forces heard testimony from the Defense Department’s top missile defense leaders and demanded to know why the Missile Defense Agency's proposed $9.6 billion fiscal 2023 budget will not yield more reliable defense against hypersonic weapons already being fielded by adversaries, including Russia on…