A is for Astronaut Blasting Through the Alphabet Written by Astronaut Clayton Anderson and Illustrated by Scott Brundage
With the formation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA in 1958 the seven men designated as the Mercury astronauts would be the first Americans ever selected to venture into the unknown of outer space Described by NASA simply as Group 1 they were also known as the Mercury 7 or the Original 7 These military fighter pilots turned astronauts M Scott Carpenter Gordon Cooper Jr John H Glenn Jr Gus Grissom Wally M Schirra Jr Deke Slayton and Alan B Shepard became instant American heroes Since that first group of astronauts approximately 350 astronaut candidates making up 22 different groups have been selected to be United States astronauts All astronaut groups are given nicknames like Penguins 8 Balls Turtles and Bugs
