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This quiz consists of 5 multiple choice and 5 short answer questions through Chapter 5, "In Single Combat".

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What does Gus Grissom find to be the strangest experience for him in the beginning of the press conference?
(a) The photographers are so eager for pictures of the astronauts and they haven't even been introduced yet.
(b) The absolute silence of the conference room as the pilots walk through the curtain for the first time is the strangest thing.
(c) The flashing light bulbs from all of the cameras causes him to have a seizure.
(d) As soon as they appear, reporters start firing questions at them.

2. Why is Gus Grissom uncomfortable during the press conference?
(a) He hates telling total strangers how he feels.
(b) He is camera shy.
(c) He doesn't like people.
(d) He hates being misquoted in the newspapers.

3. How much time passes after the press conference before the astronauts are though of as national heroes?
(a) It takes seven weeks.
(b) It takes three days.
(c) They aren't considered of as national heroes until the first launch.
(d) It happens overnight.

4. When the book begins, where is the Naval Air Station that Pete Conrad is stationed at?
(a) Florida.
(b) Nevada.
(c) Texas.
(d) California.

5. Why do the pilots report to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base?
(a) For psychological and stress testing.
(b) For medical testing.
(c) For flight protocol training.
(d) For launch preparation.

Short Answer Questions

1. What is the Navy-calculated probability that a career Navy pilot will die in an aircraft accident?

2. Who is known as the "king of the test fighter pilots"?

3. What does the author liken the deck of a carrier to?

4. Which pilot waxes philosophical when asked at the press conference about family and religion (much to the surprise and astonishment of the other pilots)?

5. What is Chuck Yeager's signature flying move?

(see the answer key)

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