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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 12, "The Tears".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What record does Bob White set during one of his X-15 flights?
(a) The new speed record.
(b) The new distance record.
(c) The new longest flight duration record.
(d) The new altitude record.

2. How many fighter jocks volunteer for the top-secret civilian program?
(a) 37.
(b) 12.
(c) 29.
(d) 56.

3. What recent invention makes Program Mercury possible at all?
(a) The rocket propulsion system.
(b) The launch software.
(c) The high-carbon fuel.
(d) The high-speed, electronic computer.

4. What is the concern that controllers have when preparing to bring Glenn back in through the atmosphere?
(a) That the blood pressure monitor is malfunctioning.
(b) That the heat shields are loose.
(c) That the capsule will overshoot the planned splash zone.
(d) That the parachute will not deploy.

5. The first test flight using an Atlas rocket is unmanned. Who or what goes up in the second test flight?
(a) A dog.
(b) Alan Shepard.
(c) John Glenn.
(d) A chimpanzee.

Short Answer Questions

1. As a result of his record-setting flight, where does Bob White show up?

2. What political event leads to Project Mercury being thought of, for the first time, as potentially expendable?

3. Who is Bob White?

4. During the launch itself, how much fuel is being consumed by the rockets each second?

5. After the Russian flight, NASA scrubbed the remainder of the planned Mercury flights using Redstone rockets. What is the next flight to attempt?

(see the answer key)

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