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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. Who is Bob White?

2. What does the author liken the deck of a carrier to?

3. How are wives notified if their husband is injured or killed during a test flight?

4. How much time passes after the press conference before the astronauts are though of as national heroes?

5. Which of the astronauts' wives has been previously divorced--a matter of public record that is not reported in the Life article?

Short Essay Questions

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

2. Why do many pilots choose to try to pilot a wounded aircraft to the ground rather than eject?

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

4. What is the procedures trainer?

5. Why does Gus Grissom find the selection of Scott Carpenter as an astronaut odd?

6. Why do Chuck Yeager's comments in Phoenix almost set off a national scandal? What happens to avoid the scandal?

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

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

9. As the number of killed pilots rises, how does that affect the mood of Pete Conrad?

10. Contrast flight training with astronaut training.

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Wally Schirra's Mercury flight came to be known as the "textbook" flight. Scott Carpenter's flight was not.

a. Identify three differences between the two flights that led to this distinction.

b. Describe how the pilot's personalities affected the outcome of the two flights.

c. From watching Carpenter's flight and learning from Carpenter's actions, Schirra insisted on one specific change from Carpenter's flight to his. What was the change? Why was it important?

Essay Topic 2

Six of the seven of the original Mercury astronauts eventually went up in a Mercury capsule before the program was discontinued in favor of the Gemini and Apollo programs.

a. What were the benefits of having an early flight? What were the drawbacks?

b. What were the benefits of having one of the last flights? What were the drawbacks?

Essay Topic 3

As NASA's space program becomes more developed, changes occur throughout the program.

a. Compare and contrast the selection process of the first group of astronauts with the group of astronauts selected by Yeager at the end of the book.

b. Compare and contrast the attitudes of the Original Seven with the attitudes of the Next Nine when they were selected for the astronaut program.

c. Compare and contrast the treatment of the Original Seven and the Next Nine when each group became astronauts.

(see the answer keys)

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