On Nov. 5, 1958, NASA, recently developed to lead America's civilian area program, officially developed the Space Task Group (STG) at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to carry out among the country's leading concerns– to establish a spacecraft efficient in sending out people into area and returning them securely to Earth. In January 1959, the STG chose a professional to develop the spacecraft for Project Mercury and started the procedure of picking who would fly the spacecraft. President Dwight D. Eisenhower directed NASA to select its very first astronauts from amongst the ranks of military pilots. The three-month extensive procedure caused the choice on April 2, 1959, of 7 males from amongst America's military branches. The company provided them to the world on April 9 as America's Mercury 7 astronauts.
Left: The head office structure for the Space Task Group at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. : An early cutaway representation of the Mercury pill.
President Eisenhower chose that military test pilots would make the most ideal astronauts. Picking from amongst militaries workers would speed up the choice procedure considering that the federal government had access to their records and all had actually gotten previous security clearances and medical screening. On Jan. 5, 1959, NASA developed the certifications for the astronauts: less than 40 years of age; less than 5 feet 11 inches high; outstanding physical condition; bachelor's degree or equivalent; graduate of test pilot school; and 1,500 hours of jet flight time. A screening in late January of the files of 508 graduates of the Navy and Air Force test pilot schools who satisfied the fundamental age and flying requirements led to 110 certified prospects. The choice committee ranked these prospects and divided them into 3 groups of about 35 each. The very first 2 groups, making up 69 prospects, got categorized rundowns at the Pentagon about the Mercury spacecraft and their possible involvement. From this group, 53 offered for additional assessment and NASA chose not to employ the 3rd group of prospects. Following a preliminary medical screening, 32 from this group advanced to go through comprehensive medical examinations at the Lovelace Foundation for Medical Education and Research, frequently referred to as the Lovelace Clinic, in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Starting on Feb. 7, the prospects in 6 groups of 5 or 6 invested one week at Lovelace going through extensive medical checkups. From there, 31 of the 32 (one prospect stopped working a blood test at Lovelace) advanced to the Aero Medical Laboratory (AML) at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, where weeklong screening of the 6 groups happened in between Feb. 15 and March 28. Instead of just analyzing them physically, screening at AML included worrying the prospects in centrifuges, elevation chambers, and other gadgets to examine their responses. The choice committee satisfied at Langley in late March and based upon all the readily available information chosen 7 prospects for Project Mercury. The 24 not successful prospects got notice by telephone on April 1 with a follow up letter from Assistant STG Manager Charles J.
