For 10 points, name this profession of John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.
John Anthony "Shorty" Powers was a spokesperson on behalf of several members of this profession. A politician who retired from this profession was unable to campaign for senator against Stephen M. Young because he suffered a concussion from hitting his head on a bathtub. The Rogers Commission investigated the death of seven people in this profession, who were eulogized in a speech stating that they "touched the (*) face of God." Wally Schirra was one of the seven men in this profession profiled in Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff. Several O-rings around boosters failed and killed seven people in this occupation, including the former schoolteacher Christa MacAuliffe, in the 1986 Challenger disaster. For 10 points, name this profession of John Glenn and Neil Armstrong.
John Anthony "Shorty" Powers was a spokesperson on behalf of several members of this profession.
astronauts [accept payload specialists; prompt on test pilot; prompt on NASA personnel or related answers; prompt on engineers]