posted February 06, 2006 12:28 PM               

What is the origin of this story? One suspects that it comes from the movie version of The Right Stuff and the oft-repeated bit of dialogue from mission control that Glenn was "go - at least seven orbits." As he starts his third orbit, Glenn is told to begin his retrofire sequence and come down. He asks "Only three orbits?" and is told yes, only three orbits. The movie clearly implies that Glenn's mission was cut short from seven orbits to only three.

posted October 05, 2006 12:13 PM            

It seems that they have changed the cover art over the years as the ones currently on Amazon.com do not have the 'astronaut/pilot' below the X-15. However both have the same 'flag'. It is similar to the American flag but obviously different with the blue starfield being changed to what appears as an American Eagle over the earth's curvature and with 9 stars (a group of 6 and a group of 3). Does anyone know where this flag came from or what it represents? Also who is the astronaut supposed to be? It does not look like any of the familiar/famous ones. There is a name on the astronaut's suit but even with a magnifying glass I cannot read it. I was wondering if it was supposed to be Ivan Kincheloe (ie blond hair) who was supposed to fly the X-15 (also pictured)? Anyone have any input?

posted November 06, 2007 01:15 PM            

But to my point. I was 11 years old when The Right Stuff hit the big screen. I saw it 4 times while it was in theaters and still watch it each time it comes on TV. The movie left me with the impression of Gus Grissom being a scared, reckless and nervous astronaut who choked. I'm 35 years old now and only over the past few years have I learned otherwise. Research and collecting, along with places like this message board, series like From the Earth to The Moon and books all taught me differently. It really makes me wonder how much damage, real damage, that movie did to Grissom's place in recent history. I learned the truth, but how many didn't and know only what they saw in the movie and took as fact?

posted December 05, 2007 06:52 AM               

Disk one is the standard movie with no extras (they probably wouldn't fit with as long as the film is). But disk two has some nice stuff on it. They have interviews with Gordo Cooper (might be his last TV interview ever) and I think Schirra and Carpenter are on it as well. But there is also a full length documentary on it, "John Glenn, American Hero" which came out after STS-98. It has some nice footage of Glenn during training and the shuttle mission itself.

posted December 15, 2007 03:22 PM               

The writer Tom Wolfe was there with photographer Annie Liebowitz to write the four-part story for Rolling Stone magazine that was the precursor of "The Right Stuff".

posted July 31, 2008 06:39 PM               

Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff is the Chicago Public Library's Fall 2008 One Book, One Chicago Selection

Chicago Public Library Board of Directors President Jayne Carr Thompson announced today that The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe will be the 15th selection for Chicago's citywide book club, One Book, One Chicago. The book, first published in 1979, tells the remarkable story of Project Mercury, the United States' first attempt to send a man into space, and the lives of the pilots at the center of the attention. The nonfiction account received the American Book Award that year and was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist.

"As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the creation of the NASA and the kickoff of Science Chicago, a year-long celebration of science, this book is a perfect choice to remind us how much can be achieved by those with the vision and the courage to take on a challenge such as literally 'shooting for the moon'," Thompson said in remarks at a press event at the Harold Washington Library Center. "We hope all Chicagoans will enjoy reading this compelling, yet human, account of the men who first ventured into space. We are excited to highlight Tom Wolfe's work of 'new journalism'" and proud to be presenting him with the Carl Sandburg Literary Award at the Chicago Public Library Foundation's dinner in October."

Throughout its 135-year history, the Chicago Public Library (CPL) has always encouraged Chicagoans of all ages to make reading a priority. One Book, One Chicago began in the fall of 2001, to encourage all Chicagoans to read the same book at the same time, and discuss a great piece of literature with friends and neighbors. CPL librarians have created resource guides and will conduct book discussions across the city in libraries, colleges and cultural institutions. One Book, One Chicago can be experienced in virtually every Chicago neighborhood throughout October. This includes film screenings, lectures, and panel discussions at the Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry, Steppenwolf Theatre and Beverly Arts Center.

August events
To kickoff the celebration this summer, the Motorola Foundation and the Illinois Science Council are joining with the Chicago Public Library and the Mayor's Office of Special Events to offer a free screening of the movie version of The Right Stuff in Grant Park on Thursday, August 14 at 8 p.m. The screening serves as an unofficial start of the Chicago Air & Water Show, which begins the next day. The Library will be present at North Avenue Beach during the Air & Water Show, handing out copies of the book as well as the resource guide and bookmarks.

On display throughout the Harold Washington Library Center through November 1 is an exhibit entitled "The Right Stuff - X-Vehicles and Spacecraft: Then and Now." With rarely-seen images and objects loaned by the Boeing Corporation, the Motorola Foundation and NASA, this exhibit gives readers of the book and other aerospace enthusiasts a chance to see photographs, technical drawings and renderings of X-vehicles and space vehicles from The Right Stuff era and beyond. The viewer gets a sense of the drama, excitement and ingenuity that characterized our country's earliest forays into space.

October events
The Library is partnering with the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science & Industry and Steppenwolf Theatre to present a variety of programs in October exploring not only the race to space and the real lives of the astronauts, but also Tom Wolfe's part in the development of the "new journalism" form of non-fiction writing. The author himself will appear at the Chicago Public Library's Harold Washington Library Center on October 16, for a conversation about his work with journalist Carol Marin.

DePaul University will once again offer a ten-week, graduate level course to explore the book beginning September 10. For more information, including course tuition, visit the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies Program Web site or call (773) 325-7839.

Additionally, Harold Washington College and Shimer College, located on the campus of the Illinois Institute of Technology, will hold various public programs inspired by The Right Stuff and a series of book discussions. One Book, One Chicago discussions will also take place at select Barnes and Noble locations, Literacy Chicago, Gerber/Hart Library, Wright College and Loyola University. Nearly 2,000 copies of The Right Stuff and dozens of DVDs are available at Chicago Public Library locations. At seven Chicago Public Library branches, patrons can check out a Book Club in a Bag which contains eight copies of the novel and resource guides. One Book, One Chicago programs are open to the public and free of charge. For an up-to-date schedule of events, call (312) 747-8191 or visit chicagopubliclibrary.org.

The Fall 2008 One Book, One Chicago is presented by the Chicago Public Library, the Chicago Public Library Foundation, the Motorola Foundation and Boeing Corporation. Additional support is provided by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Public Radio, DePaul University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Corbis and Science Chicago.

One Book, One Chicago selections have been To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Night by Elie Wiesel, My Antonia by Willa Cather, A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien, The Coast of Chicago by Stuart Dybek, In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez, The Ox- Bow Incident by Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri, Go Tell It on the Mountain by James Baldwin, The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler.

Now celebrating its 135th year, the Chicago Public Library continues to encourage lifelong learning by welcoming all people and offering equal access to information, entertainment and knowledge through materials, programs and cutting-edge technology.

The Chicago Public Library is comprised of the Harold Washington Library Center, two regional libraries and 76 neighborhood branches. All locations provide free access to a rich collection of books, DVDs, audio books and music; the Internet and WiFi; sophisticated research databases, many of which can be accessed from a home or office computer; newspapers and magazines; and continue to serve as cultural centers, presenting the highest quality author discussions, exhibits and programs for children, teens and adults.

The Harold Washington Library Center, Carter G. Woodson Regional Library and Conrad Sulzer Regional Library are open 7 days a week, the remaining 76 branch libraries are open 6 days a week and patrons can access all of the libraries ' collections online 24 hours a day. For more information, please visit the website or call the Chicago Public Library Press Office at (312) 747-4050.

posted August 05, 2008 07:03 PM               

(It's a wonderful event being planned by Chicago, and I am always glad to be able to discuss some of the literary and historical issues the book brings up.)

But I snipped this text from one of Dwayne's very astute comments and thought I'd respond below, sort of to buttress his point:

quote:

---

On a slightly different note, I remember that sometime after The Right Stuff and Chuck Yeager's autobiography came out, a military test pilot published a memoir that was an attempt to refute the image of the macho test pilot portrayed in those books. I don't remember the details, but do remember reading that the guy argued that military test pilots were in many ways very methodical, careful engineers who considered themselves to be part of a team. It was a self-effacing argument that test pilots were not brave heroes, but merely a part of a much bigger group of people working collectively to build better airplanes.[emphasis mine]

---

Yes. I particularly like this sort of rival narrative in the test pilot literature. I know it well from reading Scott Carpenter's correspondence from his Korean War tour, [note: bragging] after he'd been named the youngest PPC in the squadron.[/bragging]

"Thoroughness and mechanical aptitude," he decided halfway through his tour in Guam, were part of his "peculiar combination of talents." Note the self-effacing pride, typical of this kind of aviator: "I have a lot yet to learn about flying," he wrote to his wife, Rene, "but I know the P2V."

It's very OCD. It's very serious about the flying machine, and it's very much about the team--of mechanics and ordnance and petty chiefs and aviators that, working together methodically and seriously, make their machines safe to fly and to fight. This saves lives. It's an ethic. Show-offs and chest-thumpers and hotheads are shunned (p. 128, For Spacious Skies). That was my sense anyway, from the war correspondence.

About trash-talking about Carpenter. It happens in homogenous and highly competitive groups of macho guys. You all look kinda the same. You all fly the same planes. So what do you do? You work the differences.

Forget that Carpenter was TPS 13 at Patuxent in the top third of his class. Dismiss his work flying single-engine jet aircraft. You work the differences. And the difference is that Carpenter came to Patuxent straight from patrol planes. He's a rival in Project Mercury, so what do you do? You call him a patrol plane pilot. And still the guy unaccountably snags the country's second manned orbital flight. More trash talk ensues.

I'd like to return to Tom Wolfe, with his doctorate from Yale in American studies and his central intellectual fascination with how American men at the tops of their fields (Wall Street or NASA) strive in hyper-competitive and highly visible environments.

posted August 08, 2008 11:27 AM            

I'm an Aerospace Engineer that has also test flown a small hand full of Experimental airplanes. Do I have the Right stuff? Maybe, but deep down, probably not. Do modern astronauts have the Right Stuff? Maybe, but they are not flying unproven vehicles, boosters that blow up more often than some of us get paid, and everything that is designed by nerds with pencils and slide rules.

TRS tells a story of a different time. One that many people forgot or never knew about. I make it a point to watch it every few years with someone that doesn't know the story. I always ask for impressions after and the response is alwasy basically the same:

"Those guys had big ones"

Mission accomplished!

I think its time to dig out that DVD....

posted August 13, 2008 01:55 PM            

quote:

---

Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe will be the 15th selection for Chicago's citywide book club, One Book, One Chicago. The book, first published in 1979, tells the remarkable story of Project Mercury, the United States' first attempt to send a man into space, and the lives of the pilots at the center of the attention.... The Library is partnering with the Adler Planetarium.

---

posted August 19, 2008 01:06 PM               

The Library is partnering with the Adler Planetarium, the Museum of Science & Industry and Steppenwolf Theatre to present a variety of programs in October exploring not only the race to space and the real lives of the astronauts, but also Tom Wolfe's part in the development of the "new journalism" form of non-fiction writing.