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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Who is James Webb?
(a) The medical officer with the authority to ground Shepard if it becomes medically necessary.
(b) The new flight control commander appointed by NASA.
(c) The new administrator of NASA appointed by the Kennedy administration.
(d) The veterinarian called in to dismantle the chimpanzee colony.

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

3. What kind of rocket launches the first Mercury capsule?
(a) Redstone rocket.
(b) X-21 rocket.
(c) Canaveral rocket.
(d) Atlas rocket.

4. How does the author both begin and end the Epilogue?
(a) The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away.
(b) To dream at all is to dream big.
(c) Every race has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
(d) To everything there is a season.

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

Short Answer Questions

1. Which astronaut is named to fly in the second Mercury capsule?

2. What happens when the second Mercury flight splashes down?

3. Why are the Edward's pilots miffed by NASA's treatment of Grissom after the mistake in the capsule?

4. John Glenn's flight and his taking on "the mighty Soviet Integral" causes comparisons with what Biblical story?

5. As part of the Air Force's astronaut training program, what do the astronaut trainees attend in Washington?

Short Essay Questions

1. For the third space flight, the astronaut's wife decided to write her own story for Life magazine. The magazine rents her a "safe house" to watch the launch from so no one knows where she and her children are. Why does this action upset Shorty Powers?

2. When Bob Gilruth calls the astronauts together for an emergency meeting just before Christmas, what is the purpose of the meeting?

3. The wives had barely started getting settled into their new homes in Houston when something extraordinary starts happening. What is it?

4. What does Grissom say to the second group of astronauts to keep them in their place?

5. What worries the astronauts the most about Project Mercury potentially losing funding?

6. Why are the American politicians and reporters alarmed by the Russian's flight?

7. The Air Force has grand plans of their own for a space program. What do their plans include?

8. During the delay before the launch, Shepard found his biggest issue to be his need to use the restroom. However, no device for urination was designed into the capsule. Why not?

9. In Chapter 15, what does John Glenn argue with James Webb about?

10. The seven original Mercury astronauts receive the Iven C. Kincheloe Award for outstanding professional performance in the conduct of test flight from the Society for Experimental Test Pilots. What does receiving this award mean to the astronauts?

(see the answer keys)

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