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 do the pilots wear their bridge coats?

2. Who does NASA hire to be the astronauts' press representative?

3. In what year does the story begin?

4. What state is Chuck Yeager from?

5. At the insistence of the astronauts, what feature is finally designed into the capsule?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. What is the goal of the pilots in Project Mercury, which is the same goal in every new and important flight project?

3. As the number of killed pilots rises, how does that affect the mood of Pete Conrad?

4. Describe what the chapter's title of "On the Balcony" refers to.

5. Why does Gus Grissom feel that the reporter's question regarding whether or not the pilots feel they would come back from space is a stupid question?

6. Why do many pilots choose to try to pilot a wounded aircraft to the ground rather than eject?

7. The engineers tend to feel that the glorification of the astronauts has really gotten out of control. Why do they feel that way?

8. Jane Conrad sees a real man going to her front door and realizes it wasn't one of her hallucinations. Who is the man and why is he there?

9. Why don't the wives ever discuss the dangers their husbands face each day?

10. What is the Konakai Séance?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

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 2

The mindset of a fighter jock, whether testing airplanes or riding on rockets, is different from the mindset of the "average" person. With the danger inherent in their daily occupational duties, the fighter jock mindset probably has to be different to continue to go up and push the envelope.

a. Describe the coping mechanisms the pilots had in place to help them deal with the enormous stress of their jobs.

b. Discuss the coping mechanisms the pilots' wives had in place to deal with the enormous stress of their husbands' jobs.

Essay Topic 3

When we are first introduced to the pilots at Muroc Army Air Base, we meet a cocky group of young pilots that daily face danger and possible death from just doing their jobs.

a. List the dangers the pilots faced daily when conducting their test flights.

b. List off-duty dangers that resulted from their cocky and larger-than-life egos.

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 912 words (approx. 4 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample