7th June 2026
In 1911, Roald Amundsen reached the South Pole. In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stood at the top of Everest. In 1960, Don Walsh and Jacques Piccard reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Every last blank spot, every corner of the map, had been filled. The only remaining frontier (some might say the final frontier) was beyond the bounds of our planet.
Compared with the white-hot glow of the Apollo program, and the more recent tragedies of the Space Shuttles, the Mercury program was somewhat overshadowed when I was growing up. The first American space program, it was started as a response to the launch of Sputnik, the Russian satellite.
In the middle of the Cold War, when secrecy was paramount, the space race was a very public proving ground for technological superiority, and the Americans were behind. These days, putting a person into space can sometimes feel like a solved problem, but in those tentative early days, the American rockets were anything but reliable, often exploding on the launchpad.
The Right Stuff documents the stories of the Mercury Seven, the first American astronauts. Many of the names may be familiar, but for what they accomplished rather than who they were; Chuck Yeager, for breaking the sound barrier; Alan Shepard, the first American in space; and John Glenn, the first American to orbit the planet. In the book, Wolfe delves into their lives and personalities, in a quest to understand what gave them the 'right stuff' to be astronauts.
The recipe for the right stuff seems to be some mixture of; bravery, drive, character, demeanour, and background, but nobody could cook it, you either had it or you didn't - je ne sais quoi. And, even if you had it, it could be lost in a moment, one small mistake, and you were done.
After considering a number of different types of professional to fill the new role of astronaut, they landed on Air Force and Navy test pilots. Able to cope under pressure, to act quickly and calmly, used to putting their lives on the line and, no doubt, because they were used to following orders.
The pilots possessed all the right characteristics, but piloting would not be required. As well as being beaten into space by the Russians, the Mercury Seven were also beaten there by chimpanzees, trained to push all the buttons and switches at just the right time. No longer masters of their metal beasts, 'pushing the envelope' and hanging on for dear life, man was to go into space as a glorified general-purpose computer - the final link in a chain of redundant systems.
To the public though, this didn't seem to matter. As soon as their names were announced, they became celebrities overnight. Lauded as heroes, before they had even taken one small step.
The book also documents a time of transition, a passing of the torch. From the test pilots, to the astronauts, of who stood at the top step of "the great ziggurat". No more would the pilots be the heroes they once were, now the astronauts were the ones on the cover of Life magazine.
Wolfe also highlights the crucial role played by their wives. Like the partners of rock stars, they were expected to be devoted and dependable, running the household and raising the kids, while their husbands were seldom home. They shouldered much of the burden of fame, with little of the glory. Oh sure, they got to attend the ticker-tape parades and White House dinners, but when it came to the main event, they were expected to be at home, sitting doe-eyed in front of the TV, praying for their husband's safe return. Then, after a successful mission, they were mobbed by the press for a few words in front of the cameras, to millions around the world.
In 1983, the book was turned into a film. It's a great film, but focuses on the highlights of the Mercury program, rather than the personalities of the astronauts. Even clocking in at three hours long, it only has time for four of the six manned Mercury missions 1.
The book and the film are both book-ended by the exploits of Yeager. At the beginning, breaking the sound barrier - despite having two broken ribs after falling off his horse. At the end, we find him still 'pushing the outside of the envelope'. Maybe no longer at the top of the pyramid, but still with the right stuff.
1. Alan Shepard, Gus Grissom, John Glenn & Gordon Cooper. Scott Carpenter and Wally Schirra's missions aren't shown. Deke Slayton wouldn't get to fly in the Mercury program due to a heart condition, but did make it to space eventually.
