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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Why does Janet Conrad support her husband's decision to join the astronaut program?
(a) She thinks it will be safer than flying high-performance jet fighters.
(b) She wants her husband to be a famous astronaut.
(c) She thinks it will vault his career to the top.
(d) She wants to move out of the desert.

2. What is the nickname given to Project Mercury by the top pilots at the base?
(a) The Flying Chimpanzees.
(b) Corpses in a Capsule.
(c) Spam in a Can.
(d) Monkeys in Space.

3. What does "pushing the outside of the envelope" refer to?
(a) The new US Postal Service's mailing requirements.
(b) The least amount of sleep a test pilot needs before being considered safe to fly.
(c) The farthest distance from the base a plane can fly without refueling.
(d) The limits of a particular aircraft's performance.

4. What is the name Yeager gives to his plane?
(a) Glamorous Glynnis.
(b) Guns of Death.
(c) Soaring Eagle.
(d) Rocketing Rickshaw.

5. Which of the astronauts is actually an atheist (although he told the press that he had previously "attended" a Christian Science church with his wife)?
(a) Gus Grissom.
(b) Scott Carpenter.
(c) Alan Shepard.
(d) John Glenn.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why is Pete Conrad transferred to the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland?

2. When Chuck Yeager is interviewed by reporters in Phoenix, what do the reporters want to know about?

3. Who is in charge of testing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base?

4. What problem does the Army have with Yeager piloting the X-1?

5. When the book begins, where is the Naval Air Station that Pete Conrad is stationed at?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why do the astronauts not refer to themselves or the other astronauts as "astronauts"?

2. NASA originally needs six astronauts for the Mercury program, but is going to take twelve astronauts. Why?

3. Why do so many fighter pilots accept the Mercury mission?

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

5. What is written in Conrad's file as a reason he isn't selected for the Mercury program?

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

7. What is the begrudging consensus finally reached from the Konakai Séance regarding their "off hours" behavior?

8. The training program for the chimpanzees is based on operant conditioning. Describe what that means for the chimpanzees.

9. Describe Jane Conrad's nightmares and hallucinations?

10. Name two reasons that fighter pilots hate to declare an emergency.

(see the answer keys)

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