List of Astronauts By Year of Selection - 1958

1958

June 25 – Man In Space Soonest – USA

Neil Armstrong, William B. Bridgeman, Albert S. Crossfield, Iven C. Kincheloe, John B. McKay, Robert A. Rushworth, Joseph A. Walker, Alvin S. White, Robert M. White

Note: Nine test pilots from the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), the United States Air Force (USAF), North American Aviation (NAA), and Douglas Aircraft Corporation were selected for the Man In Space Soonest project, a USAF initiative to put a man in space before the Soviet Union did. The project was cancelled on August 1, but two of these men would later reach space: Walker made two X-15 flights above 100 kilometers in 1963; and Neil Armstrong joined NASA in 1962 and flew in Project Gemini and Apollo, becoming the first human to set foot on the Moon at 02:56 UTC July 21, 1969.