 For more health news, go to foxnewshealth.com. Health Call for Health, I'm Lisa Brady. Fox News. Now, from the historical audio archives of Fox News Talk. On April 9th, 1959, NASA named the first group of American astronauts selected from a list of 110 candidates. In just two years, on May 5th, 1961, Alan Shepard would become the first American astronaut in a suborbital flight.