Mercury Seven a team and solo. Grissom, Cooper, and Slayton were Air Force pilots; Shepard, Carpenter, and Schirra were Navy pilots, and Glenn was a Marine Corps pilot. All seven had attended a variety of postsecondary institutions in the 1940s. Of the five astronauts who had completed undergraduate degrees before being selected, two (Shepard and Schirra) were graduates of the United States Naval Academy. Having earned a Master of Arts degree in 1957 at the Naval War College, Shepard was the only selectee who held an advanced degree. Following a decade of intermittent studies, Cooper completed his degree as a mid-career student
The Magnificent Seven that it ultimately made a profit. Three sequels were eventually made: "Return of the Seven" (1966), "Guns of the Magnificent Seven" (1969), and "The Magnificent Seven Ride" (1972). None were as successful as the original film. The film also inspired a television series, "The Magnificent Seven", which ran from 1998 to 2000. Robert Vaughn was a recurring guest star, a judge who hires the seven to protect the town in which his widowed daughter-in-law and his grandson live. The science fiction movie "Battle Beyond the Stars" was a remake of "The Magnificent Seven" set in space. A group of mercenaries,