Excerpts from The Right Stuff

Published in 1979; reprinted in 1980

On July 29, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61) signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, officially creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). By October 1 NASA had set up its offices and begun plans to achieve its goal of sending astronauts into outer space; this endeavor was called Project Mercury. After an exhaustive search, seven men became America's first astronauts, known to the world as the Mercury 7. Beginning in January 1961 and ending in May 1963, Project Mercury resulted in six successful space missions that allowed NASA to begin work on sending a man to the Moon.

On October 4, 1957, the former Soviet Union became the first nation to send a craft into space when it launched the satellite Sputnik 1 (see First Satellite entry). The United States responded...