The Right Stuff, by Tom Wolfe

NOTE: This follows the space theme my groups have been reading as this year, 2019, is the 50th anniversary of man's first walk on the moon.

The Mercury Seven

Others

Scott Carpenter – 2nd man to orbit (3 times) Rene – wife Gordon Cooper, 4th man to orbit (36 hours, 22 orbits) Trudy – wife John Glenn - first man to orbit earth Annie – wife Virgil “Gus” Grissom – second man in space, died in Apollo 1 Betty – wife Walter Schirra – 3rd man to orbit (6 times), only one to fly in all three programs Alan Shepard – first man in space, 9 hours on moon with Apollo 14 Two sides to personality – Icy Commander and Smilin’ Al Louise Brewer – wife Deke Slayton – heart problems, became Coordinator of Astronaut Activities, would fly Apollo program

Pete Conrad- rebelled against testing for Mercury Seven, was not selected Chuck Yeager – “…the most righteous of all the possessors of the right stuff…” (page 35) Glennis - wife Pancho’s Fly Inn Tested men for astronaut position: Lovelace Clinic – physical Wright-Patterson Air Force Base – psychological Yuri Gagarin – Russian, first man in space Gherman Titov – Russian, 17 orbits around earth Robert Gilruth – head of Space Task Force Joe Walker – NASA X-15 pilot Bob White – Air Force X-15 pilot

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are for paperback edition.

1. In chapter IV when the pilots were called to the Pentagon for briefings about Project Mercury, administration worried that no one would volunteer for fear it would harm their career, but instead 56 out of 69 men who were at the meetings volunteered.   Could you understand what personality traits made them volunteer?
2. Joe Walker and Bob White, both X-15 pilots, were amazed that people were so excited about the Mercury astronauts when they did not actually fly.  They felt the planned landing, in water, was embarrassing.  Did you understand the publics excitement?  Why do you think the test pilots never got the recognition the astronauts did?
3. Discuss John Glenn.  He acted and spoke entirely differently than the other six and was always putting himself in the position to be selected to go to space first.  When he was not the be the first, he started to lobby to change the decision, but in Robert Gilruth’s judgement the decision was correct and it stayed.  Was there anything John Glenn could have done differently?
4. Did you think the peer vote was a fair way to decide who would go first?  It worked against Glenn even though he might have been the most dedicated.
5. Grissom and Glenn were polar opposites when it came to family time.  Glenn traveled home to be with his family most every weekend, while Grissom “…meant to be a family man, but somehow his career, or something, always got in the way” (page 92).   Grissom barely lived with his wife after marriage and did not see his first child until six months old and when Betty was in the hospital for 21 days, he visited one day.  Could there be a happy middle ground?
6. What did you think about Annie Glenn and Betty Grissom?   Annie had a bad stutter and John protected her from the media (chapter 12, pages 250-251).  Compare that to Betty Grissom who thought that the government was reneging on the “Military Wives Compact” when Gus did not receive much recognition after his flight due to the suspicion of his error. 
7. There were many unspoken rules described for the military people in the book.   Do you think they are in effect today?
1. It was the unofficial protocol that the officer’s wives did not discuss their fear of death (page 9)
2. Having the right stuff (page 18)
3. Flying & Drinking and Drinking & Driving (page 103)
4. Military Wives Compact (122)
5. The Cape was off limits to wives (page 129)
6. Konakai Séance where test pilots come to a common position (page 134)

8. Discuss the role of the wives in the Mercury Project.  Would this still happen today in the military?
1. Most of the astronauts wondered, “What possible difference could a wife’s attitude make about an opportunity for a giant step up the great ziggurat?” (page 90).
2. It was felt that, “…marital discord was a major cause of erratic behavior among pilots and often led to fatal accidents” (page 114).  Is it fair to put this blame on the wife?
3. In the Life articles, “The main thing was not to say or do anything that reflected badly upon your husband” (page 125). 
9. The astronauts were compared to the single-combat warriors of the Middle Ages (page 96) and because of this they had immunity to many of the standards the test pilots were held to.  Was this fair?
10. Initially the astronauts were trained using techniques focused on “de-conditioning, de-sensitizing, or adapting out fears” (page 144).  How was this different from the operant conditioning (avoidance of pain) and eventually the classical conditioning (rewards) used to train the chimpanzees?
11. What exactly is the right stuff?

*****
First Semester Success: 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from  amazon.com and a hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.

Endurance by Scott Kelly

NOTE: To celebrate man's first walk on the moon fifty years ago, my book groups are reading books about space.

People

International Space Station

Scott Kelly Leslie – 1st wife, divorced Samantha and Charlotte – daughters Amiko – 2nd wife Mark Kelly – twin brother Gabby Gifford – wife Richie – father, alcoholic and abusive Patricia – mother, became policewoman when boys 11 years old Tom Wolfe – author of The Right Stuff

Anton Shkaperov Samantha Cristoforetti Terry Vitts Mikhail (Misha) Kornienko – spent year with Kelly Gennady Padalka Scott Kelly – March 27, 2015 – March 1, 2016 Kjell Lindgren – first time in space Kimiya Yui – first time in space Oleg Kononenko Sergey Volkov – took over command when Kelly left Andreas (Andy) Mogensen – 10 days on ISS Aidyn Aimbetov – 10 days on ISS Arrived December 15, 2015: Yuri Malenchenko – Russian Tim Kopra – American Tim Peake - English

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from paperback edition.

1. What did Scott learn from his mother’s decision and training to be a police officer?
2. Discuss the importance of traditions to the astronauts.  For example:
1. Russians standing in specific boxes outlined on ground and answering “We are ready for the flight” when asked (page 35),
2. Americans playing lowball poker in Operations and Checkout Building until the commander loses (page 35),
3. Russians peeing on right rear wheel of bus at specific place on way to launch pad (page 36),
4. And the final wave before entering the space craft (page 49).
3. Have you always wondered about how astronauts went to the bathroom?  Was your curiosity satisfied?
4. Starting around 2000, the requirements to be an astronaut changed from an emphasis on piloting skills to the “ability to perform a lot of different jobs and to get along well with others” (page 57).  Were you surprised by this?  What do you think would be the most important characteristic for an astronaut?
5. On the space station, the astronauts time was organized in short increments using the Onboard Short Term Plan Viewer (OSTPV), where a “dotted red line moves relentlessly across the OSPTV window in my laptop, pushing throughout the block of time mission control has estimated for each task” (page 81).  How would you like to live like that?
6. Discuss the writing.  Did you like the format of the writing, with the chapters alternating between the space station and his path to get there?  What did you think about the entries from Kelly’s dream journal to introduce each chapter on the ISS?
7. Kelly wrote that personal idiosyncrasies are magnified on the ISS.  For example, Tim Kopra always repeated what was said (page 381) and Lisa Novak was obsessive (page 296).  What character trait of yours would be more noticeable in space?   What character traits would drive you crazy in others?
8. When keeping track of their time on the ISS, Misha kept track of the number of days left to be there but Scott kept a tally of the number of days he had been there.  Discuss the difference in philosophy keeping track of the time.  How would you keep track?
9. What do you think his biggest adjustment was upon his return to earth?

*****
First Semester Success, 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and hard copy from amazon.com and hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.

Moon Shot, by Alan Shepard and Deke Slayton

NOTE: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of man's walk on the moon, my book groups are reading books about the space program.

Project Mercury – one man per flight	Gemini – two men per flight Ten manned flights in 20 months
Scott Carpenter Gordon Cooper John Glenn - first man to orbit earth Virgil “Gus” Grissom - died in Apollo 1 Walter Schirra - only one to fly in all three programs Alan Shepard – first man in space, 9 hours on moon with Apollo 14 Deke Slayton	Gemini 3: Grissom, Young Gemini 4: McDivitt, White (died in Apollo 1) Gemini 5: Cooper, Conrad Gemini 6: Schirra, Stafford Gemini 7: Borman, Lovell Gemini 8: Armstrong (first man on moon), Scott Gemini 9: Stafford, Cernan Gemini 10: Young, Collins Gemini 11: Conrad, Gordon Gemini 12: Lovell, Aldrin
Apollo – three men per flight	Apollo-Soyuz Test Project
Apollo 1: Grissom, White, Chaffee – died in cabin fire Apollo 7: Schirra, Cunningham, Eislele Apollo 8: Borman, Lovell, Anders – first to orbit moon Apollo 9: McDivitt, Scott, Schweiker Apollo 10: Stafford, Young, Cernan Apollo 11: Armstrong, Aldrin, Collins Apollo 12: Conrad, Bean, Gordon Apollo 13: Lovell, Swigert, Haise Apollo 14: Shepard, Roosa, Mitchell Apollo 15: Scott, Irwin, Worden Apollo 16: Young, Duke, Mattingly Apollo 17: Cernan, Schmitt, Evans	Stafford Slayton Brand Leonov - Russian Kubasov - Russian

For Discussion:

NOTE: Page numbers are from hardback edition of book.

1. After his flight, Alan Shepard and his wife were invited to the White House to meet with the President Kennedy.  As he was taken to the National Association of Broadcasters convention and a parade in Washington DC, Shepard felt he was being used and that the president was “…showing off a war trophy named Shepard, and it smelled” (page 131).  Was he justified in this feeling?  Was it a necessary evil for the space program to continue?
2. Do you think the role the wives of the astronauts played would be different today?  Do we hear about any of the current wives?
3. During John Glenn’s flight a problem developed that “…his life was in jeopardy” (page 148).  The decision was made not to tell him about the problem at first, which angered Glenn.  Do you think he should have been told sooner, even though there was nothing he could do?
4. In the first chapter about Apollo 11, there was a computer alert as the Eagle was approaching the moon. It fell to 26-year-old Steve Bales (the guidance officer, knowledgeable about all computers on board) to make the final call (page19-21).  How hard was it for Bales to make the call to continue?
5. Apollo 8 was called “…the single greatest gamble in space flight then, and since” (page 229).  Was the gamble justified?
6. Both Shepard and Slayton were eliminated from flying because of medical conditions.  How were they able to stay with the program after such disappointments?  Was it worth it for both of them to risk medical procedures to be able to fly again?
7. Were you surprised that the astronauts were able to sleep?  On page 223, Frank Borman was in such a deep sleep that at first, upon waking, he did not know where he was.
8. Discuss the character of Deke Slayton.  When Apollo 13 had trouble, he broke the rules and talked directly to the astronauts who were reassured by hearing his voice. When he was medically cleared for flight, he refused to bump someone who had already been assigned a flight even though he had seniority and could do so.
9. The authors described two different reactions of astronauts on Apollo 14 to seeing earth from space.  Why did the authors choose to highlight these two?  Do you think any of the other astronauts felt differently or had the same experience?
1. Alan Shepard felt he was there to take home the message “…that everyone there must learn to live on this planet together” (page 311).
2. Ed Mitchell was “…swept along by a peak experience in which the presence of divinity became almost palpable” (page 311) and “…the universe has meaning and direction” (page 312).
10. Discuss the writing style, particularly with both authors writing about themselves in the third person as opposed to an autobiography.
11. If you had the chance, would you go into space?

*****

First Semester Success: 2nd edition, by Dr. Arden B. Hamer, is available as an eBook and  hard copy from  amazon.com and a hard copy from wordassociation.com.   Click on the upper right link.