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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is Bob Gilruth?
(a) The man in charge of Project Mercury.
(b) The veterinarian brought in to dismantle the chimpanzee colony.
(c) The X-15 pilot who joined the astronauts for training.
(d) The head engineer of Project Mercury.

2. What plane is being developed for the ARPS?
(a) B-1.
(b) NF-104.
(c) X-15C.
(d) X-20.

3. What is Gus afraid of as he tries to swim to the helicopter's horse collar?
(a) Drowning.
(b) Blacking out.
(c) Sharks.
(d) The helicopter crashing.

4. During the launch itself, how much fuel is being consumed by the rockets each second?
(a) 2 1/2 tons.
(b) 1 ton.
(c) 56,000 gallons.
(d) 1000 pounds.

5. What are Gordon Cooper's and Deke Slayton's roles during the launch?
(a) They are the look-outs for trouble on the launch pad.
(b) They are the capsule communicators.
(c) They are the technical trouble-shooters.
(d) They are NASA's press representatives.

6. When the astronauts arrive in Houston, they are told that there will be a "little" cocktail party for them. Where is the cocktail party held?
(a) The Houston Space Center.
(b) The Exxon Oil Refinery.
(c) The Astrodome.
(d) The Houston Coliseum.

7. What does Kennedy insist on as NASA's next focus?
(a) To land a man on the moon.
(b) To successfully repeat the Mercury flight.
(c) To build a space station.
(d) To build the space shuttle.

8. What do the pilots at Edwards finally expect the public to realize based on the chimpanzee's successful flight?
(a) That only a real, trained pilot is capable of flying the Mercury capsule.
(b) That any trained animal can pilot the capsule and that the pilots at Edwards are the real pilots.
(c) That the ape is being considered for a medal of courage.
(d) That the dream of space travel is finally a reality.

9. What is Cape Canaveral's new function?
(a) It is the unmanned space center.
(b) It is the launching center.
(c) It is the new training facility.
(d) It is the new medical testing center.

10. When does the second Mercury flight take place?
(a) September 7.
(b) July 21.
(c) August 30.
(d) June 7.

11. Which one of the astronauts is selected for the first Mercury flight?
(a) Gus Grissom.
(b) Wally Schirra.
(c) John Glenn.
(d) Alan Shepard.

12. Which chimpanzee is chosen to go into space?
(a) Number 7.
(b) Number 42.
(c) Number 61.
(d) Number 1.

13. Which two astronauts are selected to be the backup astronauts?
(a) Wally Schirra and John Glenn.
(b) Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom.
(c) John Glenn and Gus Grissom.
(d) Alan Shepard and John Glenn.

14. What is the name of the first Russian cosmonaut?
(a) Alexei Leonov.
(b) Sergei Korolyov.
(c) Gherman Titov.
(d) Yuri Gagarin.

15. Who does Annie Glenn refuse to let into her house because the press storm around the launch is so excruciating to her?
(a) Jackie Kennedy.
(b) Vice President Johnson.
(c) President Kennedy.
(d) Alan Shepard.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Deke Slayton grounded?

2. What is the AWC?

3. As he sits in the capsule waiting to be launched into space, what is Shepard most afraid of?

4. Shepard is strapped so tightly into the capsule that he can't feel the weightlessness he knows he is experiencing. What item floats in front of him in the capsule?

5. Who is a part of the "new breed" of Air Force pilots?

(see the answer keys)

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