LT. COLONEL VIRGIL I. "GUS" GRISSOM - COLLECTION WITH JOHN GLENN, COLONEL GORDON COOPER JR., CAPTAIN WALLY M. SCHIRRA, SCOTT CARPENTER, REAR ADMIRAL ALAN B. SHEPARD JR., MAJOR DONALD "DEKE" SLAYTON - HFSID 90375

THE ORIGINAL SEVEN PROJECT MERCURY ASTRONAUTS: SCOTT CARPENTER, GORDON COOPER, GUS GRISSOM, JOHN GLENN, WALLY SCHIRRA, ALAN SHEPARD and DONALD K. SLAYTON
All but Grissom have signed a group photo in space suits. The signature of the ill-fated Grissom on a separate sheet is framed with it in the Gallery of History style.


Collection comprised of: (1) Photograph signed: "Alan/Shepard", "Gordon Cooper", "W M Schirra", "D K Slayton", "John/Glenn" and "Scott Carpenter". B/w, 4¾x4¾ overall, image 4½x3½ (one surface). Captioned at lower margin. Fine condition. (2) Signature: "Virgil I. Grissom", 3½x1¼. Fine condition. The seven space pioneers who signed this Project Mercury envelope were chosen by NASA in April 1959 as the first American astronauts. Project Mercury successfully attained its goal of launching a man into space and safely returning him to Earth. On May 5, 1961, ALAN SHEPARD (1923-1998) became the first American in space when Project Mercury launched its first manned capsule, the Mercury-Redstone 3 Freedom 7. Grounded due to an inner ear disorder, he later returned to space as Commander of Apollo 14 (January 31-February 9, 1971), during which mission he walked on the Moon. VIRGIL I. "GUS" GRISSOM (1926-1967) manned the second suborbital flight, the Mercury-Redstone 4 Liberty Bell 7 on July 21, 1961. Grissom, who later flew aboard Gemini 3, lost his life on January 27, 1967, when a flash fire engulfed the capsule on the launch pad during a simulation test for Apollo I, for which he had been chose as Commander. On February 20, 1962, JOHN GLENN (1921-2016) became the first American in orbit aboard the Mercury-Atlas 6 Friendship 7. In 1998, Glenn returned to space on the flight of the STS-95 Discovery space shuttle (October 29-November 7). SCOTT CARPENTER (born in 1925) made three orbits aboard the Mercury-Atlas 7 Aurora 7 on May 24, 1962. He later took part in the U.S. Navy's SEALAB program, becoming the first astronaut/aquanaut. On October 3, 1962, the Mercury-Atlas 8 Sigma 7, with WALTER M. SCHIRRA (1923-2007) aboard, doubled the number of orbits previously made and lasted nine hours and 13 minutes from launch to splashdown. Schirra later was aboard Gemini 6 (December 15, 1965) and commanded Apollo 7 (October 11-October 22, 1968), becoming the only astronaut to serve in all three of NASA's early manned programs. Mercury-Atlas 9 Faith 7, manned by GORDON COOPER (1927-2004), orbited the Earth 22 times on May 15-16, 1963. Cooper later commanded the Gemini 5 mission (August 21-29, 1965). DONALD K. SLAYTON (1924-1993), grounded during the Mercury program because of an irregular heartbeat, was aboard Apollo 18 for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (July15-24, 1975). During this flight, U.S. and Soviet Union spacecrafts docked in space. Two items. Framed in the Gallery of History style: 29¼x17.