Paul Roscoe collection of astronaut photographs, circa 1960s | Purdue University Libraries, Archives and Special Collections

The Paul Roscoe collection of astronaut photographs (circa 1960s; 0.2 cubic feet) documents members of the NASA astronaut corps, NASA administration, and the Saturn missile. It includes both headshots and group photographs of various NASA personnel from the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs. The headshots are solely of astronauts, some in their spacesuits. One notable photograph shows the Saturn missile, which was used during the Apollo missions to the moon, sitting at the launch pad.  Types of materials include: color photographs.  The photographs are organized into a single folder with original order maintained.

History of Mercury Seven Astronauts:

The Mercury Seven Astronauts were the first Americans in space.  They participated in the Mercury program, announced in 1958, which had three objectives: “to place a human spacecraft into orbital flight around Earth, observe human performance in such conditions, and recover the human and the spacecraft safely” (Garber).  These first astronauts went through a rigorous selection process from a pool of 508 test pilot candidates. In the end, NASA chose seven pilots for the program: Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper, Jr., John H. Glenn, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Alan B. Shepard, Jr., and Donald K. "Deke" Slayton.  In total, the Mercury Seven completed six human spaceflights from 1961-1963.  Slayton, however, was grounded on account of a “previously undiscovered heart condition” (Garber).  Their missions were instrumental for later human spaceflight programs like Gemini and the famous Apollo missions to the moon (Garber).

Source(s:

Garber, Steve. “The 40th Anniversary of the Mercury Seven.” NASA History Program Office. NASA, November 2009. Web 7 March 2012.