Meet author Ed Buckbee at the Cradle of Aviation Museum

Meet author Ed Buckbee
	Join us on Friday, August 12th for a discussion and book signing starting at 11 AM
In 1959, seven U.S. military fighter pilots were selected to train as America’s first astronauts. Alan Shepard, Gordon Cooper, Gus Grissom, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Wally Schirra and Deke Slayton accepted the country’s call to service and would become known as the Mercury Seven (M7). These men, who had jockeyed for the best flying jobs in the military, began competing for rides on rockets. Most would eventually vie for the ultimate ride to the moon. This was the dream - a chance to ascend to the top of the pyramid - a lion-hearted pilot’s deepest desire. They were our first astronauts. They were star voyagers. The path they blazed now shines for others; on a voyage that is a measure of the best in us all and the Mercury 7 were first. They are The REAL Space Cowboys. The author Ed Buckbee, who has enjoyed a 40+ year association with the U.S. manned space flight program, follows these brave men, the last true American heroes, who pioneered the U.S. space program. Through time and personal friendships, he captures dreams of flying higher, faster and farther than anyone in the known universe. Readers are invited behind the scenes to witness the competition between chimpanzees and astronauts, and the conflict between NASA engineers designing capsules and those who would pilot them. Wally Schirra a major contributor to The REAL Space Cowboys, is the only Mercury astronaut who flew in all three of the nation's pioneering space programs, Mercury, Gemini and Apollo. Schirra and his space flying buddies took no prisoners in the space race to the moon. They stood on the shoulders of America's greatest peace time work force, ever assembled, and beat the Russians to the moon and along the way gave birth to some exciting new technology. Wally Schirra is of that special breed of man who created the mold and set the standard that became the role model for the U.S. astronaut corps of today. We asked the best and the bravest to lead America on it's first flights into this new ocean of space. They were the Mercury 7. Now they are three; John Glenn, Scott Carpenter and Wally Schirra. Contact Ed Buckbee by email at buckbee@air-space.com

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