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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. On the space flight, what becomes a major issue for the astronaut?
(a) Loose heat shields.
(b) Fly-by-wire operations.
(c) Low fuel levels.
(d) Too many experiments.

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

3. As part of the Air Force's astronaut training program, what do the astronaut trainees attend in Washington?
(a) Political classes.
(b) Flight school.
(c) Operations training.
(d) Charm school.

4. How long is the second Russian cosmonaut in space for?
(a) 4 hours .
(b) 10 hours.
(c) 1 day.
(d) 3 days.

5. Why does Deke Slayton officially retire from the Air Force one year short of being eligible for his 20-year pension
(a) The Air Force wants Slayton to train Yeager.
(b) The Air Force decides to ground Slayton permanently.
(c) Slayton wants to move to Alabama with his wife.
(d) The Air Force no longer wants Slayton to work with NASA.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does Gus want Betty to remember when she flies down to the Cape?

2. How long is Cooper's flight?

3. Why does the Air Force bring Chuck Yeager back to Edwards?

4. 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?

5. Which astronaut takes Slayton's place for the next flight?

Short Essay Questions

1. During an international space conference attended by the Russians to publicize their successes in space, what reassuring fact does the United States learn?

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

3. Why does Webb declare Cooper's flight to be the last of the Mercury program?

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

5. Why does Grissom's suit not keep him buoyant when he is awaiting rescue in the ocean?

6. Why does NASA select the primary pilot and two backups with a few weeks to go before the launch instead of selecting the primary pilot the day before the launch as is originally planned?

7. 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?

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

9. The evening before the second Mercury flight, Joe Walker runs into Gus Grissom. Walker tries to get Grissom's goat by insisting that the X-15 program will soon pass the Mercury program and that he and the other Edwards pilots are the "real" pilots. Why do these remarks not bother Grissom at all?

10. Why is Betty Grissom so upset at the treatment of Gus after his flight?

(see the answer keys)

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