They almost made it into the mile-under club.
VERY funny!
Any way, they were "aeronauts" wearing Mercury space suits sitting in an open aluminum frame.
Every thing went well (their record may still stand), but one of them removed his helmet and slipped while getting into the recovery craft.
His body snagged in the parachute lines, catching it before it was able to literally, join that club.
The news of the achievement, and tragedy, sort of got lost in the Shepard trip.