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January 6th - Cape Canaveral (INN)
Cape Caneveral, Florida -- Director Dickinson of NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) announced today the the first Americans to go into space have been chosen.
"Our selection process had to be very specific because of the small space inside the Mercury spacecraft. Due to this the candidates could be no taller than 5 feet 11 inches (180 cm) and weigh no more than 180 pounds (82 kg). Other requirements included an age under 40, a bachelor's degree or equivalent, 1,500 hours of flying time, and a qualification to fly jets.
"After an advertisement amongst military test pilots drew more than 500 applications, NASA began their search of military personnel records and identified 110 pilots, five Marines, forty-seven from the Navy, and fifty-eight from the Air Force, who were qualified and fit their requirements. Sixty-nine candidates were brought to Washington DC, in two groups; the candidates' interest was so great, despite the extensive physical and mental exams that the agency did not summon the last group.
The tests included spending hours on treadmills and tilt tables, submerging their feet in ice water, three doses of castor oil, and five enemas. Six candidates were rejected as too tall for the planned spacecraft. Another thirty-three failed or dropped out during the first phase of exams. Four more refused to take part in the second round of tests, which eliminated eight more candidates, leaving 18.
From the 18, the first ten NASA astronauts were chosen, each a 'superb physical specimen' with a genius-level IQs, and the ability to function well both as part of a team and solo.
"I present the NASA Astronaut 10:
David Richlen
Science Desk, International News Network
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr
Shepard was born in Derry, New Hampshire to Lt. Col. Alan B. Shepard, Sr. and Renza (née Emerson) Shepard. He attended primary and secondary schools in East Derry and Derry. He was one of many famous descendants of Mayflower passenger Richard Warren.
Virgil Ivan 'Gus' Grissom
Grissom was born in Mitchell, Indiana on April 3, 1926, the second child of Dennis and Cecile King Grissom. His father was a signalman for the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and his mother a homemaker. His older sister died shortly before his birth, and he was followed by three younger siblings, Wilma, Norman and Lowell.
John Herschel Glenn, Jr
John Glenn was born in Cambridge, Ohio, to John Herschel Glenn Sr. and Teresa (née Sproat). He was raised in New Concord, Ohio. Glenn studied mathematics at Muskingum College, and received his private pilot's license as physics course credit in 1941.
Malcolm Scott Carpenter
Born in Boulder, Carpenter moved to New York City with his parents (Marion Scott Carpenter and Florence [née Noxon] Carpenter) for the first two years of his life. His father had been awarded a postdoctoral research post at Columbia University. In the summer of 1927, young Carpenter returned to Boulder with his mother, then ill with tuberculosis. He was raised by his maternal grandparents in the family home at the corner of Aurora Avenue and Seventh Street, until his graduation from Boulder High School in 1943.
Walter Marty (Wally) Schirra, Jr
Schirra came from an aviation family in Hackensack, New Jersey. Schirra's father, Walter M. Schirra, Sr., who was born in Philadelphia, went to Canada during World War I and earned his pilot rating. He later became a barnstormer. Schirra's mother, Florence Leach Schirra, went along on her husband's barnstorming tours and performed wing walking stunts. By the time he was 15, Wally was flying his father's airplane. Schirra was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of First Class in Troop 36 in Oradell, New Jersey.
Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr
Cooper was born in Shawnee, Oklahoma. He grew up there and later moved to Murray, Kentucky where he attended public schools. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America and achieved the second highest rank of Life Scout. In 1945 Cooper turned down the possibility of a football scholarship to enlist in the Marine Corps but was too late to see combat in the Second World War.
Donald Kent (Deke) Slayton
Slayton was born on a farm near Sparta, Wisconsin. A childhood farm equipment accident left him with a severed left ring finger. He attended elementary school in Leon, Wisconsin and graduated from Sparta High School. He entered the United States Army Air Forces as a cadet in 1942, training as a B-25 bomber pilot. He flew 56 combat missions with the 340th Bombardment Group over Europe during World War II and later flew seven combat missions over Japan in a Douglas A-26 Invader as part of the 319th Bombardment Group.
Iven Carl (Kinch) Kincheloe, Jr
Kincheloe was born in Detroit, Michigan but grew up in Cassopolis, Michigan. He was interested in aircraft from a very young age. He attended Purdue University, where he majored in aeronautical engineering, joined the ROTC and was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon-Indiana Alpha fraternity. In the summer of 1948, the ROTC cadet was able to meet Chuck Yeager and sit in the cockpit of the Bell X-1.
Robert Aitken Rushworth
Rushworth was born in Madison, Maine on October 9, 1924. He studied mechanical engineering at the University of Maine, receiving a BE in 1951. He received a BS in aeronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1957.
Joseph Albert (Joe) Walker
Walker was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, Walker graduated from the Trinity High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in physics from the Washington and Jefferson College before entering the U.S. Army Air Forces. During World War II, Walker flew the Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter and F-5A photo aircraft (a modified P-38) on weather reconnaissance flights. Walker earned the Distinguished Flying Cross once, awarded by General Nathan Twining in July 1944 and the Air Medal with seven oak leaf clusters.