The Public Face of Space Travel
The faces of these early space travelers became famous.
Pavel Popovich, Yuri Gagarin, Valentina Tereshkova, Adrian Nikolaev, Valery Bykovsky, German Titov.
Although the Soviet Union conducted its program secretly, once the flights were successful, the identities of the cosmonauts were published with great enthusiasm.
Front row, left to right: Walter Schirra, Deke Slayton, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter.
The first American astronauts were known as the "Mercury Seven." Life magazine published articles featuring them and their families. This photograph became the iconic image of the group.