For people of a certain age, the names Shepard, Grissom, Glenn, Carpenter, Schirra, Cooper and Slayton bring back powerful memories of a simpler, perhaps even more glorious, time. The Mercury 7 Astronauts were gods in their day. Here though, the names are not Alan, Gus, John, Scott, Wally, Gordo or Deke, but Louise, Betty, Annie, Rene, Jo, Trudy and Marge. The woman too were on the cover of 'Life'. They lunched at the White House and met Jackie. Because they were in charge of the home front, the book also deals with the economics of their lives and that, I found interesting.' Life' was accorded special access and was the only media allowed in their homes during their husband's flights. For the access, 'Life' paid $500,000 per year or $71,428 per family. Those were huge, life changing numbers in 1959. For the men, GM offered them the opportunity to test Corvettes - for a dollar per year. When they all moved to Texas when the Johnson Space Center opened, they got new houses for a song. For seven military families, the Mercury program was a game-changer.
The 'New Nine' were followed by the 'Next Nineteen' as NASA geared up for Gemini and Apollo. Life, though, became more complicated for the men and the wives. The flights were much, much longer. It was now weeks of stress and tension rather than hours. The famous Gemini 1 fire took the lives of Grissom, Chafee and White. More and more of the wives drank as their husbands, if ever at home, were often distracted. And as time went on, the 'Cape Cookies' took their toll. From a program you could not get into unless you had a solid marriage, only seven couples survived from the 35 that were in the Mercury 7, New Nine, and the Next Nineteen. The Astronaut Wives Club survives to this day and many of the woman have remained close and still try very hard to help each other. They shared a uniquely American and exclusive experience.
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