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

Short Answer Questions

1. What is President Kennedy obsessed with?

2. Towards the end of his flight, Cooper starts experiencing problems. What is causing these problems?

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

4. How does the author both begin and end the Epilogue?

5. The next manned space flight occurs in 1965 and the space program continues still today. Yet one thing was lost from the original Mercury program and still remains different today. What it is?

Short Essay Questions

1. What is the effect on Shepard of having so many pre-flight simulations?

2. What becomes an immutable part of the flight day drill for the astronaut's wife?

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

4. What is the general assumption regarding why the capsule's hatch blew before the helicopter hooks on?

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

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

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

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

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

10. What reaction does the American public have to the chimpanzee's flight?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

When Glenn finally goes up, his flight is remarkably different from Shepard's flight, as is the resulting celebration upon Glenn's safe return.

a. List three perks Shepard received after his first flight.

b. List three perks Glenn received after his first flight.

c. How does the success of Glenn's flight change their relationship?

Essay Topic 2

The Original Seven astronauts underwent medical and psychological testing as part of their selection process.

a. Describe the three tests conducted on the astronauts at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. What information were the psychologists trying to gain from these tests?

b. Why did Pete Conrad rebel as a result of all of the tests? Give one example of his rebellious streak from the Lovelace tests. Give one example of his rebellious streak from the Wright-Patterson tests.

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)

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