Now There Are Three

A nation of 180 million people narrowed its selection of the first man to invade space to a few hundred likely candidates, then a few score, then again to the seven well-publicized Mercury astronauts. Last week, with all the nonchalance of Casey Stengel reeling off a pre-game batting order, Project Mercury Director Robert Gilruth narrowed the choice to three. The trio: Marine Lieut. Colonel John Glenn Jr., 39; Air Force Captain Virgil Grissom, 34; Navy Commander Alan Shepard Jr., 37. After the initial manned flight is scheduled--perhaps in two months--one of the three will be chosen to ride a Redstone-borne capsule on a relatively short 16-minute trip: about 115 miles up, 300 miles out over the Atlantic (essentially the same voyage made recently by the chimpanzee Ham).

Project directors insisted that only pure coincidence had produced one finalist each from the Marines, Air Force and Navy. The big three, they said, were selected after 22 months of training and study during which scientists, psychologists and engineers carefully graded their performances. Topflight test pilots all, the astronauts dived into a program that included instruction in astronautics, ballistics, trajectories, fuels, guidance, basic aviation medicine, orbital flight hygiene, space environment, astronomy, meteorology, astrophysics and geography. Along the way, they were guinea-pigged into hot chambers and cold, wild rides in 20-G centrifuges and in disorientation machines that whirled them around till they became physically sick. They lived for days at a time in pressure suits, studied prototypes of the Mercury capsule, attended launchings.

Moving now into advanced training. Glenn, Grissom and Shepard will undergo even more rigorous physical and mental testing. They will spend two hours in a superheated chamber (130DEG F.), withdraw into a dark, soundproof room for hours at a time to test their ability to endure isolation, and will be exposed to piercing, high-frequency noises. They will also get extra time in the capsule simulator, a grounded version of the real space chamber, where engineers will pose a variety of possible equipment failures and the astronauts will have to deal with them all.

The fast-approaching take-off day for the No. 1 man will be set after a number of further test flights. The latest shot of the capsule, carried aloft last week by an Atlas, was one of the Mercury program's brightest successes. The one-ton capsule got its roughest ride, soared 107 miles high, 1,425 miles downrange at top speed of 12,850 m.p.h. Examination of the battered capsule showed that a man could have stood the ride, so, as they tell each other, the astronauts have practically nothing to worry about.

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