Chapter 14, "The Club" Summary

The call has gone out for a second round of astronauts, and this time Pete Conrad has played it straight and both he and Jim Lovell, finalists the first time, have been chosen. Although he has just requalified for night carrier duty, landing jets in darkness on a heaving aircraft carrier, Conrad jumps at the chance to reapply. In just three years being an astronaut has gone from a risky career-sidetrack to the top of the career pyramid, so high that the righteous brothers of Edwards Air Force base are invisible. Nevertheless, the new astronauts, the Other Nine, are cocky about their qualifications. Many have accomplishments the Original Seven never touched. Yet the Other Nine find themselves in the position of rookies, beneath and often in service to the Original Seven. John Glenn has been told to...