Mercury astronauts

Shepard was one of the seven Mercury astronauts, the first group of U.S. flyers designated to go into space. He's at left in the back row, beside Virgil "Gus" Grissom and, at right, Gordon Cooper. The front row, from left to right, shows Walter Schirra, Donald Slayton, John Glenn, and Scott Carpenter. It was this group that for many years provided the macho, heroic image of the U.S. astronaut corps, memorably portrayed in Tom Wolfe's book (and the later movie) "The Right Stuff."