A book describing this group's introduction claims that the American press, "for all its vaunted independence, [was] a great colonial animal."
A book describing this group's introduction claims that the American press, "for all its vaunted independence, [was] a great colonial animal." The New York Times' James Reston praised this group's "courage and idealism," referring to a press conference where reporters "lustily" applauded members for speaking about God, family, and country. An unofficial member of this group was public relations man "Shorty" Powers, who coined the term "A-OK." Its members were derisively called "spam in a can."  Because of an erratic heart rhythm, Deke Slayton was removed from active duty in this group and spent years as a civilian administrator. Its members were irritated at being compared to monkeys  by Chuck Yeager, a feud documented in Tom Wolfe's book The Right Stuff. For 10 points, Gus Grissom, Alan Shepard, and John Glenn were part of what group, otherwise known as "Astronaut Group One"?
A book describing this group's introduction claims that the American press, "for all its vaunted independence, [was] a great colonial animal."
The Mercury Seven [or the Mercury astronauts; accept Astronaut Group 1 until mentioned; prompt on the Original Seven; prompt on astronauts; prompt on NASA astronauts; prompt on answers like first astronauts or original astronauts]