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Admiral's Cabin. Chances are, the six other astronauts* shared Shepard's driving urge to get into space. But by the time the top three men were chosen to prepare for the final countdown, despite persistent rumors that Marine Lieut. Colonel John Glenn was the front runner, Shepard's peers had already picked him as their personal choice. His utter devotion to the experiment earned him the flight. Said he with a grin: "Maybe I'm a link between Ham the Space Chimp and man." Whatever the reasons, it was Shepard who was chosen by National Aeronautics and Space Administration officials for the first, historic hop. Slayton and Cooper busied themselves with communications; Schirra and Carpenter flew jet chase planes over the range; Slayton and Grissom were on hand to greet their buddy at Grand Bahama Island; John Glenn was the back-up man and checked out the capsule.
Even after the tedious training paid off in a perfect flight, Shepard's ordeal was not over. "Debriefing" (Pentagonese for careful questioning) began the moment that he landed on Lake Champlain's deck. Doctors hustled Shepard to the admiral's cabin, where they first let him talk away his effervescent enthusiasm. Then, while tape recorders continued to catch every word, they began questions designed to collect scraps of information that the space traveler might have gathered. Relief came when Shepard was summoned to the bridge; President Kennedy was calling by radiophone from Washington.
Kennedy congratulated Shepard, told him that the presidential family had watched his flight on TV, and said that he was looking forward to seeing him in Washington. Said Shepard: "Thank you very much, Mr. President. It was certainly a very thrilling ride. I'd like to thank everybody who made it possible." Soon after the stilted conversation (which sounded for all the world like Major Yuri Gagarin's talk with Khrushchev after his orbital flight), an airplane took Shepard to Grand Bahama Island, where he was held incommunicado for an elaborate physical and mental examination and a more complete debriefing.