View a FREE sample

This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. When Pete receives his top-secret orders, what is the project he is being asked to volunteer for?

2. Which astronaut is known as the Icy Commander?

3. Who is the biggest practical joker among the volunteers?

4. How many kills does Yeager have by the end of World War II?

5. Who runs the Fly Inn near Muroc Field?

Short Essay Questions

1. Name two reasons that fighter pilots hate to declare an emergency.

2. According to the author, why does every pilot sound the same and talk with a lilting, vaguely Southern-sounding drawl?

3. The morning after the press conference, the newspapers are full of stories about the astronauts. What do the stories highlight?

4. The training program for the chimpanzees is based on operant conditioning. Describe what that means for the chimpanzees.

5. Why is the book titled "The Right Stuff"?

6. Why do the pilots come to hate Lovelace?

7. Why does the Army fire Slick Goodlin and give the X-1 piloting assignment to Yeager?

8. What is the begrudging consensus finally reached from the Konakai Séance regarding their "off hours" behavior?

9. Name three tests conducted at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on the pilots.

10. In 1952 at Edwards Air Force Base, 62 Air Force pilots died in the course of a 36-week training session. In 11 weeks of combat training at Nellis Air Force Base, 22 pilot trainees were killed. In Pete Conrad's own class in Florida, 10 out of 20 had been killed. In the opinion of the pilots, these rates of death are considered "extraordinary," yet they really are not. Why?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Throughout the book, the "pyramid" is discussed.

a. Define what the "pyramid" and how each group (Edwards' pilots vs. Mercury's astronauts) ranked on the period before Mercury is underway, during Project Mercury, and at the conclusion of the Project.

b. Identify and discuss three events that occur (both at Edwards and at NASA) to change and redefine the perception of both the pilots and the astronauts.

Essay Topic 2

Once the astronauts were selected for Project Mercury, they were no longer military fighter pilots. They became sought-after public figures and national heroes.

a. How did this change their behavior patterns, if at all?

b. What impact did this change have on their families, if any?

Essay Topic 3

When Project Mercury first began, the pilots were flying to Cape Canaveral for their training sessions. Later, as Project Mercury outgrew Cape Canaveral, the program was moved to Houston. Compare and contrast the astronauts' lifestyles in Cape Canaveral and Houston.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 808 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample