The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) completed the selection of seven men as astronauts for Project Mercury. Originally planning to select six men, the Space Task Group screened 508 records and found 110 candidates who met the minimum standards, interviewed 69, invited 32 to go through tests and narrowed the number down to 18. Deputy Administrator Robert Gilruth suggested picking the seven finalists with the most flying experience. A preliminary briefing was conducted for prospective bidders on construction of the worldwide tracking range for Project Mercury. This meeting was attended by representatives from 20 companies. At this time the preliminary plan called for an orbital mission tracking network of 14 sites. Contacts had not been made with the governments of any of the proposed locations with the exception of Bermuda. It was planned that all the sites would have facilities for telemetry, voice communications with the pilot, and teletype (wire or radio) communications with centers in the United States for primary tracking. The tracking sites would provide the control center at Cape Canaveral, Florida, with trajectory predictions; landing-area predictions; and vehicle, systems, and pilot conditions. Between April 2 and April 16: NASA and the military services conducted meetings to draft final plans for the Project Mercury animal payload program. The animal program was planned to cover nine flights, involving Little Joe, Redstone, Jupiter, and Atlas launch vehicles. An initial orientation was given to the seven Project Mercury astronauts when they reported to the Space Task Group for duty. After responsibility for the worldwide tracking range construction of Project Mercury had been assumed by the Langley Research Center, the following study contracts were placed: (1) Aeronutronic to study radar coverage and trajectory computation requirements, (2) RCA Service Corporation for specification writing, (3) Lincoln Laboratories for consultant services and proposal evaluations, and (4) Space Electronics for the design of the control center at Cape Canaveral. The Chief of Naval Operations directed the Atlantic Fleet to support Project Mercury as follows: (1) landing and recovery systems in the area of Norfolk, Virginia, to develop spacecraft pickup and handling techniques for ships and helicopters, (2) recovery of capsules on solid rocket launch vehicle tests in the area of Wallops Island, and (3) Atlas launch vehicle development or ballistic flights from the Atlantic Missile Range. Details for orbital flight support had not been accomplished at that time. A superbolt, more powerful than an ordinary