The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff

Define and/or explain the following:
test pilot:
sound barrier:
"push the outside of the envelope":
"top of the pyramid":
"the demon that lives in the thin air":
Edwards Air Force Base:
Sputnik:
"No bucks; no Buck Rogers":
  1. At the beginning of the film, we see Man's effort to break the sound barrier.
    Who is the first man to break this barrier?

    What kind of plane did he fly?

    When was this?

    Where did this happen?

    Why didn't the government want publicity about this historic event?

  2. What happened in 1957 to make the U.S. government anxious to upgrade its space program?
  3. Why do the government officials reject the top test pilots, like Yeager, as candidates for astronauts?
  4. List and describe the various tests that the astronaut candidates take:
    A.

    B.

    C.

    D.

    E.

  5. Name and describe the seven Mercury astronauts:
  6. This film won an Oscar for best editing. Give two examples of scenes that stand out for editing, and tell what the editing does for the scene:
    A.

    B.

  7. Identify which character is being referred to below:
    A. "My name José Jimanez":

    B. "Who's the best pilot you ever saw?":

    C. Mr. Clean Marine:

    D. "Lend me a stick of Beeman's. I'll pay you back later.":

  8. The movie shows how the news media are very important in deciding policy. Explain how this works:
  9. The movie also shows how politicians and politics get involved with the U.S. Space program. Describe two incidents that show this:
    A.
    B.
  10. Give some details about the following historic space flights:
    First man in space and his country:
    First "American" in space:
    First U.S. man in space:
    • Who:

    • What problems did he encounter?
    Second U.S. man in space:
    • Who?

    • What problems did he encounter?
    First U.S. man to orbit the Earth:
    • Who?

    • What unusual sight did he see?

    • What problems did he encounter?
    Last U.S. man to orbit the Earth alone:

  11. What did Chuck Yeager finally think of our astronauts?
  12. What does having the "Right Stuff" mean? Give examples from the movie to illustrate what you mean.
  13. Some people argue that we shouldn't put much money into our Space Program while we have so many problems to solve right here on Earth. Write a well developed paragraph to explain your thoughts on this.
    This is a clickable Map