The United States was introduced to the seven Mercury astronauts on April 9, 1959.
They were living symbols of American youth, energy, courage, and boundless possibilities. So it’s hard to believe that now there are only two:
Wally Schirra, one of the original astronauts in the Mercury 7 project, died Thursday at age 84, NASA officials said.
Schirra died in California, the officials said. He was the fifth American in space and the third to orbit Earth.
He was the only astronaut who flew in three of the nation’s pioneering space programs: Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.
The only surviving Mercury astronauts are John Glenn and Scott Carpenter.
Update: Wally Schirra never flew again after Apollo 7. Time magazine tells why.
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