Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-07-15
Fourth of q Series

military officer. he earns 5000 a
Fourth of q Series
month in one of the riskiest
callings known to man. For sew
eral years he has been a test
pilot.
OF course, there is no such
thing as the average astronaut.
'He" is created by setting down
the histories and qualifications
of seven individuals and divid-
ing by seven. He is a fiction
who will never get off the
ground.
Each Expects to Orbit
But each of the seven who
go to make up the composite
expects to get off the ground.
and into orbit, and back safely
to earth sometime in the next
two or three years. To this end
they recently underwent the
most careful screening in
American military history, and
are now hard at work at Lang
ley Air Force Base. near Norfolk
in Virginia.
The astronauts, while re-
manning on the active lists of
their respective services, have
khelved rank for the time be-
ing and work together as quasi
civilians in the National Aero
nautics and Space Administra-
ction's Space Task Group. They
occupy a large Office when they
are not travelling to various
locations where Mercury work
is going on Cr working with
project officers on vital aspects
of the Man-in-Space program.
The AstrOnaut Roster
Alphabetically, they are:
Malcolm S. Carpenter, "a
year-old Navy lieutenant, ma
tive of Boulder, Colo, married
to a Boulder girl and father
of four.
Leroy G. Cooper, 80, Air
Force captain from Carbon
dale, Colo, who is married to
a Seattle girl and has two
daughters.
John H. Glenn, jr., whose
age $3.50 and rank Marine
lieutenant colonel make him
senior of the group. A Cam
bridge, (Ohio) native, he is
married to a girl from New
Concord and has two children.
Virgil 1. Grissom, SO, Air
Force captain born in Mitchell,
Ind. who is married to a
Mitchell girl and has two sons.
Walter M. Schirra, jr., SO,
Navy lieutenant commander
from Hackensack, N. j., whose
wife is from an old Navy family
and who has two children.
Alan B. Shepard, jr., IS, Navy
lieutenant commander born in
East Derry, N. H., who is mar
ried to a Kennett Square (Pa.)
girl and has two daughters.
Donald K. Slayton, IS, Air
Force captain and Sparta
(WiscO native, whose wife
came from Los Angeles and
who has one son.
Gathered Together
When the astronautS were
selected last April from among
SO volunteers, their homes were
scattered across the country
near various duty stations. Now
all are living in the Norfolk
Hampton Roads area with the
exception of one. Col. Glenn is
keeping his family in their
home at 1888 North Harrison
street, Arlington, and is COM
muting week ends.
The intensive physical and
psychological examinations un-
dergone by the astronauts dur
ing the screening process have
been too we'll publicized to re-
count here. 1t is enough to say
that the seven who emerged
from two weeks of grueling
scrutiny were as near to per-
feet in body and mind as men
are likely to be.
In the two or three years to
come before the first Mercury
flight, careful checks will be
made periodically on the astro-
nautS' well being. But from the
medical point of view they are
over the hump, and the i'm
portant part of their immediate
future lies in their training for
and participation in Mercury.
Because one of the criteria
for selection as an astronaut
was a background in science or