People
mission-ops
John Glenn
CAPCOM (California)
John Glenn was the first American to reach earth orbit on the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission. It was his only flight before retiring from NASA, but he returned to space in 1998 on the space shuttle. On this mission he was the capsule communicator for California.
Donald K. (Deke) Slayton
CAPCOM (Cape Canaveral)
Deke Slayton was one of the Mercury Seven, but was grounded for medical reasons shortly before Mercury-Atlas 8, during which he served as capsule communicator at Cape Canaveral. Deke was eventually returned to flight status, and flew in 1975.
Scott Carpenter
CAPCOM (Guaymas)
Scott Carpenter was the pilot of Mercury-Atlas 7, less than six months before Mercury-Atlas 8. During Schirra's mission, Carpenter was the capsule communicator for Guaymas. He only flew one mission, before leaving NASA for the US Navy's SEALAB project.
Gus Grissom
CAPCOM (Hawaii)
Gus Grissom was the second American in space, as the pilot of Mercury-Redstone 4. On this mission, he was a capsule communicator, talking to Schirra's Sigma 7 spacecraft as it passed over Hawaii. He returned to space as the commander of Gemini 3.
Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr.
CAPCOM (Pacific Command Ship)
Alan Shepard was the first American in space, as the pilot of Mercury-Redstone 3. He would fly again as the commander of Apollo 14. On this mission, he was stationed on a ship in the Pacific Ocean, communicating with Wally Schirra as he passed overhead.
Christopher Kraft
Flight Director
Chris Kraft served as NASA's first flight director, taking operational responsibility for all of the crewed Mercury missions, and many of the Gemini missions. He moved into mission planning for the Apollo project, and stayed at NASA until the early 1980s.