Editing Project Mercury (section)

===Selection and training===
Prior to Project Mercury, there was no protocol for selecting astronauts, so NASA would set a far-reaching precedent with both their selection process and initial choices for astronauts. At the end of 1958, various ideas for the selection pool were discussed privately within the national government and the civilian space program, and also among the public at large. Initially, there was the idea to issue a widespread public call to volunteers. Thrill-seekers such as rock climbers and acrobats would have been allowed to apply, but this idea was quickly shot down by NASA officials who understood that an undertaking such as space flight required individuals with professional training and education in flight engineering. By late 1958, NASA officials decided to move forward with test pilots being the heart of their selection pool.<ref name="NASA">{{cite web|last1=Dunbar|first1=Brian|title=Project Mercury Overview – Astronaut Selection|url=https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/mercury/missions/summary.html|website=nasa.gov|date=March 17, 2015 |publisher=NASA|access-date=24 April 2018}}</ref> On President Eisenhower's insistence, the group was further narrowed down to active duty military [[test pilot]]s, which set the number of candidates at 508.{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|pp=160–161}} These candidates were [[USN]] or [[USMC]] [[United States Naval Aviator|naval aviation pilots]] (NAPs), or [[USAF]] [[U.S. Air Force aeronautical rating#USAF rating requirements|pilots of Senior or Command rating]]. These aviators had long military records, which would give NASA officials more background information on which to base their decisions. Furthermore, these aviators were skilled in flying the most advanced aircraft to date, giving them the best qualifications for the new position of astronaut.<ref name="NASA"/> During this time, women were banned from flying in the military and so could not successfully qualify as test pilots. This meant that no female candidates could earn consideration for the title of astronaut. Civilian NASA [[X-15]] pilot [[Neil Armstrong]] was also disqualified, though he had been selected by the US Air Force in 1958 for its [[Man in Space Soonest]] program, which was replaced by Mercury.{{sfn|Hansen|2005|p=173}} Although Armstrong had been a combat-experienced NAP during the Korean War, he left active duty in 1952.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=92}}{{refn|group=n|Armstrong left the Navy as a [[Lieutenant (junior grade)|Lieutenant, Junior Grade]] in the [[United States Navy Reserve|US Naval Reserve]], until resigning his commission 1960.{{sfn|Hansen|2005|p=118}}}} Armstrong became NASA's first civilian astronaut in 1962 when he was selected for NASA's second group,{{sfn|Hansen|2005|pp=201–202}} and [[Apollo 11|became the first man on the Moon]] in 1969.{{sfn|Nelson|2009|p=17}}

It was further stipulated that candidates should be between 25 and 40 years old, no taller than {{convert|5|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}}, and hold a college degree in a [[Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics|STEM]] subject.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=92}} The college degree requirement excluded the USAF's [[Bell X-1|X-1]] pilot, then-Lt Col (later Brig Gen) [[Chuck Yeager]], the first person to exceed the [[speed of sound]].{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|pp=92–93}} He later became a critic of the project, ridiculing the civilian space program, labeling astronauts as "spam in a can."<ref>{{cite web|last1=Cloer|first1=Dan|title=Alan B. Shepard, Jr.: Spam in a Can?|url=http://www.vision.org/visionmedia/biography/alan-b-shepard/17449.aspx|website=vision.org|publisher=Vision|access-date=24 April 2018}}</ref> John Glenn did not have a college degree either, but used influential friends to make the selection committee accept him.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=440}} USAF Capt. (later Col.) [[Joseph Kittinger]], a USAF fighter pilot and stratosphere balloonist, met all the requirements but preferred to stay in his contemporary project.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|pp=92–93}} Other potential candidates declined because they did not believe that human spaceflight had a future beyond Project Mercury.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|pp=92–93}}{{refn|At the beginning of the project both President Eisenhower and NASA's first administrator, T. K. Glennan, believed that the US would put the first man in space, and that this would be the end of the Space Race.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=407}}|group=n}} From the original 508, 110 candidates were selected for an interview, and from the interviews, 32 were selected for further physical and mental testing.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=93}} Their health, vision, and hearing were examined, together with their tolerance to noise, vibrations, g-forces, personal isolation, and heat.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=98}}<ref>[[David Minard|Minard, D.]] (1964). Work Physiology. Archives of Environmental Health. 8(3): 427–436.</ref> In a special chamber, they were tested to see if they could perform their tasks under confusing conditions.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=98}} The candidates had to answer more than 500 questions about themselves and describe what they saw in different images.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=98}} Navy Lt (later Capt) [[Jim Lovell]], who was later an astronaut in the [[Project Gemini|Gemini]] and [[Apollo program]]s, did not pass the physical tests.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|pp=92–93}} After these tests it was intended to narrow the group down to six astronauts, but in the end it was decided to keep seven.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=94}}

The astronauts went through a training program covering some of the same exercises that were used in their selection.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|pp=103–110}} They simulated the g-force profiles of launch and reentry in a centrifuge at the [[Naval Air Development Center]], and were taught special breathing techniques necessary when subjected to more than 6 g.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=104}} Weightlessness training took place in aircraft, first on the rear seat of a two-seater fighter and later inside converted and padded [[cargo aircraft]].{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=105}} They practiced gaining control of a spinning spacecraft in a machine at the [[Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory]] called the Multi-Axis Spin-Test Inertia Facility (MASTIF), by using an [[Spacecraft attitude control|attitude control]]ler handle simulating the one in the spacecraft.<ref>{{cite web| title =Gimbal Rig Mercury Astronaut Trainer | publisher =NASA| date =9 June 2008| url =http://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/history/mastif.html#.VIy1TnvAuJw|access-date = 13 December 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{YouTube| M3m5npzgVLY | "Gimbal Rig" }}</ref> A further measure for finding the right attitude in orbit was star and Earth recognition training in planetaria and simulators.{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|pp=105, 109}} Communication and flight procedures were practiced in flight simulators, first together with a single person assisting them and later with the [[Mission Control Center (NASA)|Mission Control Center]].{{sfn|Catchpole|2001|p=111}} Recovery was practiced in pools at [[Langley Air Force Base|Langley]], and later at sea with frogmen and helicopter crews.{{sfn|Alexander & al.|1966|p=346}}

<gallery mode="packed">
Astronaut Walter M. Schirra Prepares to Test Gravitational Stress.jpg|G-force training, [[Naval Air Warfare Center Warminster|Johnsville]], 1960
Mercury Astronauts in Weightless Flight on C-131 Aircraft - GPN-2002-000039.jpg|Weightlessness simulation in a [[C-131]]
Project Mercury AWT Gimbaling Rig close.jpg|MASTIF at [[Glenn Research Center|Lewis Research Center]]
Shepard in trainer before launch.jpg|Flight trainer at Cape Canaveral
B60 285b.jpg|Egress training at [[Langley Research Center|Langley]]
</gallery>
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