Mercury Seven summon the last group. The tests included spending hours on treadmills and tilt tables, submerging their feet in ice water, three doses of castor oil, and five enemas. Six candidates were rejected as too tall for the planned spacecraft. Another 33 failed or dropped out during the first phase of exams. Four more refused to take part in the second round of tests, which eliminated eight more candidates, leaving 18. From the 18, the first seven NASA astronauts were chosen, each a "superb physical specimen" with an IQ above 130, and the ability to function well both as part of
The Seven Who Were Hanged The Seven Who Were Hanged The Seven Who Were Hanged () is a 1908 novella by Russian author Leonid Andreyev. The book is believed to have influenced the assassins of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in 1914. A minister learns of a foiled assassination plot on him by five leftist revolutionaries, and the trauma this inflicts on his peace of mind. The novella then switches to the courts and jails to follow the fates of seven people who have received death sentences: the five failed assassins, an Estonian farm hand who murdered his employer, and a violent thief. These condemned people are