The first seven astronauts to go to space were part of the Mercury Seven program, and they did not all go at once.

Here's the breakdown:

* Alan Shepard became the first American in space on May 5, 1961, with a suborbital flight.

* Virgil "Gus" Grissom followed on July 21, 1961, also with a suborbital flight.

* John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth on February 20, 1962.

* Scott Carpenter followed with his orbital flight on May 24, 1962.

* Wally Schirra orbited the Earth on October 3, 1962.

* Gordon Cooper completed the longest single spaceflight by an American astronaut at that time on May 15, 1963.

* L. Gordon Cooper was the last of the Mercury Seven to go into space. He flew with Pete Conrad on August 21, 1965, as part of the Gemini 5 mission.

So, while the Mercury Seven program started in 1959, the last of the seven to fly in space was in 1965.