Mercury astronauts join al-Qaeda?

We're not sure what John Glenn will make of it, but NASA's Image of the Day is currently showing a rather unflattering 1960 snap of the seven original Mercury astronauts:

Well, it's hardly the sort of space apparel available to the modern space jockey, but things were a bit more belt-and-braces back in the 60s. So much so, that it appears Alan Shepard has been doing a bit of hands-on maintenance of the launch vehicle.

Oh, all right then: the picture in question is, as the blurb explains, the chaps a bit the worse for wear after survival training in Nevada. Nice one. ®