posted 03-01-2014 10:12 AM               

What struck me is how remarkable the men who weren't selected were, which made the men who were chosen even more extraordinary.

This book further convinced me that Chris Kraft's comments about Scott Carpenter were based on personal rather than professional reasons.

There was simply no other way to stand out in the first selection group than to be, in every respect, at the top of the candidates. The men who, for whatever reasons, refused or were not chosen went on to such outstanding careers it's absolutely impossible for the a "wrong" choice to have slipped through the process. Too many top-notch people had would have to have made so many fundamental errors for that to happen.