The original seven Mercury astronauts standing beside F106-B S61-01250. Photographed on January 20th 1961.
Autographed by:
Rear Admiral Alan Bartlett Shepard Jr. (November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998)
US Naval Aviator, Flight Instructor, Test Pilot and Astronaut
He was selected as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts in 1959, and in May 1961 he made the first manned Spaceflight in Freedom 7, becoming the second person, and the first American, to travel into space, and the first person to manually control the orientation of his spacecraft.
CMDR Malcolm Scott Carpenter (May 1, 1925 – October 10, 2013)
American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, astronaut, and aquanaut. Carpenter was the second American to orbit the Earth, and the fourth American in space, following Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, and John Glenn.
Donald "Deke" Slayton (March 1, 1924 – June 13, 1993)
American World War II Pilot, USAF Bomber Pilot, Flight Instructor, Aeronautical Engineer, Test Pilot, First Chief of Astonauts Office
After joining NASA, Slayton was selected to pilot the second U.S. manned orbital spaceflight, but was grounded in 1962 by an irregular heart rhythm. He then served as NASA's Director of Flight Crew Operations, making him responsible for crew assignments at NASA from November 1963 until March 1972. At that time he was granted medical clearance to fly, and was assigned as the docking module pilot of the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, at age 51 becoming the oldest person to fly in space at the time.
Left to right, M. Scott Carpenter, L. Gordon Cooper Jr., John H. Glenn Jr., Virgil I. Grissom, Walter M. Schirra Jr., Alan B. Shepard Jr., and Donald K. Slayton. Photographed on 01/21/1961 at Langley Air Force Base.
