The '''Mercury Seven''' were the original seven astronauts designated to fly in Project Mercury. They were M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Walter "Wally" Schirra, [[Alan Shepard]], and Donald "Deke" Slayton. Selected for their performance in the [[United_States_Air_Force|Air Force]], several of these pioneer astronauts (including Wally Schirra) flew in all NASA rocket spacecraft - from Mercury to [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] to [[Project Apollo|Apollo]]. | The '''Mercury Seven''' were the original seven astronauts designated to fly in Project Mercury. They were M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Virgil "Gus" Grissom, Walter "Wally" Schirra, [[Alan Shepard]], and Donald "Deke" Slayton. Selected for their performance in the [[United_States_Air_Force|Air Force]], several of these pioneer astronauts (including Wally Schirra) flew in all NASA rocket spacecraft - from Mercury to [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] to [[Project Apollo|Apollo]]. |