Previously on The Right Stuff...
Get in here.
Actually, I'm looking for the Space Task Group.
Welcome to NASA.
What we're doing here has consequences for the entire world.
If Russia gets a man into space first, we could lose the Cold War.
We need the best men.
And those seven...
...will be the Mercury astronauts.
This is my chance to be the first at something memorable.
And I want it more than anyone, Annie.
-Congratulations, Al. -Couldn't have done it without you, Lou.
- I'm not gonna be one of the seven. - No?
I'm gonna be the first man in space.
Then we'll also need to schedule an interview with your wife and family.
They know we're separated, I'll wash out.
We could start over.
I draw the line at this.
My family, my home life, that is mine.
I know how good of a pilot you are, Alan.
But you aren't honest with yourself, and that will catch up with you.
Well, I don't think any of us could really go on with something like this
if we didn't have pretty good backing at home, really.
Um, my wife's attitude toward this has been the same as it has been all along
through all my flying, which is if it's what I want to do,
she's behind it, and the kids are too, a hundred percent.
Honestly, Annie said I've been out of this world a long time,
I might as well actually go on out there.
Uh, Mr. Shepard, same question. What does your wife say about all this?
I have, uh, no problems at home.
My family's in complete agreement.
Well, of the medical tests,
which one would you say you liked the least?
Well, I'll say this...
...you figure out how many openings there are in the human body
and how far you can go into each of them,
you could probably figure out which would be the toughest one for you.
So, can you tell me, guys, who's gonna be the first man in space?
Yeah, but in all honesty, uh, the people at the Lovelace Clinic,
I think, uh, treated us just fine.
Wonderful staff there, wonderful doctors and nurses...
...and I think even though it was a painful, excruciating time...
- Hello? - Louise, it's Margaret.
What on Earth are you doing over there?
We're watching the television. Al has his first press conference.
I think you'd better have a look out your front door, dear.
...the same it has been all along through all my flying,
which is if it's what I want to do,
she's behind it and the kids are too, a hundred percent...
- Mrs. Shepard? - Mrs. Shepard!
Mrs. Shepard, over here!
-Is your husband best for the job? -Bring out the kids!
It's all about confidence in the air.
You know, letting the craft become a...
an extension of your body.
You got all that?
Ugh, more reporters?
-They're on your damn lawn. -Yup.
- Do you wanna go down there? - I don't have much choice, do I?
Nope.
All right.
Every school kid
is gonna know the name of the first American in space.
His face is gonna be everywhere.
He'll never be forgotten.
-What is it? -Is that a bear?
The hell do you think you're doing?
These guys the astronauts?
The hell's it look like I'm doing? I went hunting.
Why'd you bring that back when there are reporters everywhere?
What else am I supposed to do with it, Betty?
I don't need a picture of our house
- with a dead bear on the lawn. - Well, well, well.
What have we got here, huh?
Uh, well, this will make one heck of a picture, huh?
Come on, what do you say, guys?
Betty, Betty, Betty, come on. Get on in here.
All right.
Now, what do you say we growl like a big old grizzly, huh?
Your husband races planes.
I do,
or I did anyway.
Just short-course stuff.
You settling in okay?
Military life, you get used to it.
Hey, little lady.
What's the best part of having an astronaut for a dad, huh?
Being all back together again.
Who are you?
-Michael Turley, Washington Star. -You can't just walk in here.
I just wanted to lend a hand, door was open...
Hey, you know what? Thanks for the interest, Mr. Turley,
but we got a lot to do here today. I'll walk you out.
We're private people, you know?
Sure appreciate you giving us some space.
Did I do something wrong?
Of course not, sweetie.
You go find your sister, start setting up your room, okay?
Schirra has a down-home quality.
-Carpenter's face will sell tickets. -Shepard needs some work.
- Glenn's the whole package. - What the hell am I doing here?
-Keep telling Bob he needs to relax. -I am relaxed.
But another one of our rockets exploded.
I've lost count of how many that makes, and I'm good at counting.
My memory is going. Who do you work for?
-I work for you, Keith. -No shit.
-Now what's your problem? -Our problem is that Congress thinks
we're the biggest money pit in the nation's history.
And so why do you think Eisenhower trusted an old Hollywood guy to run NASA?
When I was at Paramount Pictures we had Mae West,
-we had Gary Cooper. -They have the damn Marx Brothers.
We never had a standing room
of legit press falling over themselves
to ask Bing Crosby what kind of casserole his wife made on Sundays.
And these are ordinary people, Bob.
And for some reason, people were captivated
-by their ordinariness. -No disrespect, Shorty,
but what Suzy Homemaker thinks doesn't really help get a man in space.
Tell me what you see here, Bob.
I see my time being wasted on PR when I have actual work to do.
PR isn't just Shorty's concern.
It's what's gonna make your work possible.
You don't have a rocket problem,
you have a people problem.
The papers like these guys.
And people read the papers.
People will want to know how this story ends.
People vote.
And what's gonna make all our problems go away?
What do votes mean, Bob?
Money.
Let's go get you some money.
They haven't even cleared the land for the launch site.
-Bob, it's still a palmetto swamp. -Where are we on the procedures manual?
Goddamn Air Force was supposed to clear it last month.
Then talk to the Air Force, C.O. at Patrick, Major General Kutchel.
- It's Keuchel. - "Kook-el"? Are you sure?
Yes, and I spoke to him already, last month. Said everything was on track.
What procedures manual?
- The one with the procedures in it. - Wait, what are the procedures?
-They're what goes in the manual. -But we don't have any procedures.
The engineers were supposed to be in base housing.
Lunney, we will have procedures when you write the manual.
There's a problem with base housing. It doesn't exist.
I mean, there's hardly any housing down there, period.
-Bob, where are we putting the astronauts? -Hangar S.
We don't take possession of Hangar S until next week.
-You need to relax, Chris. -Relax?
We're supposed to send a man to space inside a year,
and we are already a month behind schedule.
Shorty, what do you know about that general down in Florida?
-Major General Keuchel? -It's "Kai-kel."
-And he's dead. -Dead?
Two or three weeks ago, yeah.
Well, that'll set us back two or three more months.
-Why the hell are you even here? -You didn't tell him?
Name that tune, John.
"Let Me Call You Sweetheart," Arthur Clough.
Morning, gentlemen. Allow me to introduce Colonel John Powers.
- "Shorty," to my friends and lovers. - He comes to us from the Air Force,
but he'll be handling public relations for the Space Task Group.
- What the hell is this? - We're pushing your trip to Florida,
because we have a mission of urgent national importance.
Let me be clear. Congress is going to cut our funding
if we do not win the hearts and minds of the American people.
There they are! Yeah!
All right. It's a good crowd.
This is nice. All right. Let's go. Let's go.
Let's go, uh, let's sign some autographs here, huh?
- Hi there. - Deke, come on Deke.
Deke, let's get in here. Buddy, buddy... Buddy, let's get in here, okay?
-Yeah, don't worry about it, just... -Hi. Welcome here.
Get away from these… these girls, guys.
Excuse me. Okay.
Terrific, thanks.
And if you'd like to call your congressman to express your enthusiasm,
we'd be real grateful, because this is a collective effort.
For God and for freedom.
He's a natural.
That's great. One, two, three... Perfect.
As I'm standing here today...
marveling at your hard work and ingenuity,
looks like one hell of a ride.
Can't wait to get up there, kick the snot out of the Soviets...
for, uh, freedom.
For God, also.
Sorry.
All right, I can sign it...
Gordo!
Hi, how are you? Oh, look at this.
This is beautiful.
-Did you help with this? -Yeah.
Nation's eyes may be on us, but we will reach the stars
on your shoulders.
Look around, you see these congressmen?
We need to suck up to them to get more funding.
-Okay, there's Congressman Brooks. -Who?
Head of the Science and Aeronautics Committee.
So, please be your most charming self.
Brooks is a segregationist, you know.
You wanna talk segregation? Wait till we get to Florida.
Hey, Lyle! Come on over here and meet Al.
My name is Leo DeOrsey.
I've been trying to corner you all night.
Okay.
You picked a pretty funny time.
Can I help you, friend?
Actually, I'd like to help you.
What you boys are doing is a great service to this country.
I can provide you with opportunities befitting your position.
-I'm a lawyer and an agent. -Well, I'm a pilot, not a movie star.
Like it or not...
you're a celebrity.
And what you need, Mr. Glenn, is someone to stand between you
and everybody looking for a piece. Not to mention the press.
You have friends on the Hill.
Ask them about me.
The future's coming, John.
The future's always coming, Mr. DeOrsey.
Not like this, it isn't.
Ain't she a beaut?
You can look, but don't touch.
Thanks for everything you do, Al.
Sweet car, huh?
Hey! You hear John Glenn is inside?
Morning, girls.
-It's that guy again. -What guy?
Don't worry about him. He's just a little buzzard.
He kept asking me all these things.
Things? What things?
Don't worry, sweetie. I'll walk you to school today.
What things was he asking?
He followed her to school, and he asked her about us.
Well, it can't be any worse than what's in there.
Thanks.
Cam, she's shy. Likes peace and quiet.
Yeah. I was just looking out for her.
Truth is, I'm afraid we're just not a very interesting family.
You're right.
You know...
really the person who I should be questioning is, um...
How do you say her name? Lurleen?
Is that it, Lurleen Wilson?
They wanna know everything about us. We haven't done anything yet.
"What kind of toothpaste do you use?"
"What brand of underwear are you taking to space?"
Gotten that question two times.
Next thing you know, the press will be banging down the door.
Trampling across the yard.
Just like Laura and Julie do every day.
Well, Laura and Julie don't print every word we say.
People know where we live now.
But I'm going to Florida in a couple of days.
-I'm not gonna be here. -We'll be fine, Al.
It's our life.
We've always protected that.
But things are different now.
Yeah, like it or not, this is what you signed up for.
And John Glenn is good at it.
So, if you really wanna be first,
you're going to have to get used to the limelight.
I'm a better pilot.
It's all that matters in the end.
I wouldn't be so sure.
I thought you were gonna talk to Cam?
What should I tell her, a lie?
You're better at that than me.
Trudy, I go to Florida in less than a week.
I'm not gonna be here to keep jackasses like that off our lawn.
I'm well aware of that.
If somebody writes something about us,
things don't just go back to normal for me.
Forget space. I'm not even going back to Edwards.
What do you think happens to me?
Shorty…
-this is out of control. -Out of control? It worked.
Overton Brooks is our new carnival barker.
And those same congressmen who were threatening our budget
are now calling me to schedule photo ops.
Well, for some reason, the CEO of BFGoodrich is calling me,
asking why his competition is getting free publicity.
Apparently, those men and that brassiere belong to International Latex.
And some denture company got a photo of Deke and Gus...
John, I agreed to your adventure.
-And this is what you do to my astronauts? -What do you expect?
They're poor.
And they're treated like movie stars while their wives are at home,
cooking dinner out of shoelaces.
You plunged one toilet and stopped up another.
Fix it.
Sorry. It's urgent. Something about Gordon Cooper?
Okay.
Yah. Yah, yah, ka-yah.
Oh, God. You gotta protect your tail, son.
Hey, okay, come on in here.
C... come in. I'm Annie and this is Lyn.
- Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Cooper. - Trudy.
-Such a lovely dress. -Thank you.
Let me show you to the dining room.
- What was that, karate? - No, ma'am.
This is tae kwon do from Korea.
Then, the dentist said, "You're embarrassed?
"I'm the one with three ducks up my butt."
So, how did you two meet?
Why don't you tell her?
Okay, then. Uh, well, um...
-it was a Saturday. -Thursday.
Fine, it was a Thursday.
I was at the Oahu Airport, and it was blowing like hell.
And I've just tied up and I see this Piper coming in.
It was a tough crosswind landing, real bounce-and-go situation,
and I'm thinking to myself,
"Man, this guy is gonna buy the farm."
But no.
He straightens right out, and just, I mean, kisses the landing.
Then the door opens, and guess what?
A girl gets out. Yeah. A girl.
-I have a name, I swear. -Well, I didn't know it then.
And this beautiful creature, she's incoming,
I'm thinking to myself... "What am I gonna say?"
And I remember my grandma always said, "If Leroy Gordon Cooper had one thing,
"it's an infectious smile."
See?
So, I lock on and I smile. You know what happened?
-No. -Nothing.
She blew right past me like I was made of cotton candy.
And I'm standing there, big jackass grin on my face.
Well, anyway, them's the breaks.
So, you know, then I decided I wanna take one last look, and...
she was staring at me.
And it's late in the day, the sun is setting, and Trudy's just...
she's just bathed in gold.
She's looking at me, and then she smiles.
She smiles. I mean, if my grandma could have seen that.
So I looked at her right then and there, and I couldn't look away.
And I haven't since.
I mean, it really is something, John.
Well, a house makes a man.
Man, it can take a while, being in the service.
Do you still fly?
Not right now. I was flying every week in San Diego, but...
I wanna compete in this race,
a transcontinental Powder Puff Derby.
Amelia Earhart.
-Yeah. -Nineteen twenty-nine.
- Oh, and, um, Ruth Elder. - Yes.
Got attacked by a bull
-when she landed in that field. -Yes.
A bunch of men tried to sabotage their planes,
did you know that?
Oh, I couldn't get enough of those women when I was young.
I read everything I could.
I wanted to be the female Charles Lindbergh.
No. The first Trudy Coo...
Yeah, well...
Well, you should do the Derby.
Oh, in a few years, maybe.
We can't afford it without Gordo's flight pay.
And the distractions don't help.
Reporters.
You seem to handle it pretty well.
Well, I've...
had practice.
Does it get any easier?
But you have to let them in.
That must be pretty tough for you.
Nobody minds a quiet woman.
-Seems like you have things to say though. -Yes.
Sometimes I wouldn't mind a quiet man for a change.
You know, I had to get used to being on television.
Telling the same story over and over.
They're always gonna want the family angle.
You know the best thing I learned from all that attention?
The only way through it is to smile.
And we already know you got a good one of those.
But you punch a photographer on Monday night,
you're gonna have nine more on your doorstep Tuesday morning.
It's okay.
Shorty Powers paid the guy. It's taken care of.
I mean, sure, Shorty was pissed,
but I said I'd talk to you,
that I understand where you're coming from, 'cause I do.
You know, sometimes even I wanna light up those sons of guns.
It's more complicated than that, John.
You put the whole program at risk when you go off half-cocked.
You think it's just me?
Deke, Gus, Wally,
it's not like any of us went to finishing school.
If this keeps up, Shorty is gonna have more to worry about
than one glass-jawed reporter.
- Hello? - Shorty, hey, pal.
Sorry to call so late.
No problem. What's going on, John?
You ever heard of this guy named Leo DeOrsey?
Yeah, sure. He brokers media deals with NBC and Disney.
He's a big shot, you know.
Well, I'm thinking maybe he's the solution to all our little problems.
For over 20 years,
LIFE Magazine has chronicled the news and culture of our world
like no other publication.
Mr. Wainwright here has been at the center of it all.
Thank you, Leo.
Gentlemen.
LIFE entertains its readers
with portraits of men like Franklin Roosevelt,
Babe Ruth, Douglas MacArthur.
Heroes, all of them.
Let's take nothing away from those fine Americans.
After all, people like that put bread on my table.
But nobody has ever seen anything like you men until now.
Astronaut.
"Astro" meaning "star," "naut," "voyager."
See, few things live forever in the soul of a country.
But star voyagers?
Look, guys, I write features, but this is no feature.
This...
This is a story.
Americans love stories.
This story ends with a climax in space.
And it starts right here on Earth.
People wanna know everything about you men.
Your lives.
You've seen it already.
What shoes your wife wears, or what kind of cereal your kids eat.
LIFE will tell your stories, gentlemen.
We will take the public on a journey from the kitchen table to Pluto.
And people will feel like they know your families,
like they know you.
-They'll wanna be you. -The best part...
the magazine is prepared to offer an exclusive arrangement,
meaning no stringers from some small-town rag beating down your door.
You let LIFE in, we keep everybody else out.
-What's in it for us? -For starters, money.
Fame.
Immortality.
Let's be honest.
A guy like Babe Ruth, he hit a ball with a stick.
And look what LIFE did for him.
You boys are paving the path
-of America's future... -Guy, just tell us the number.
Are those for us?
Wow, they're so pretty. Thank you, Daddy!
Well, these fine machines were, uh, purring for two little girls to saddle up.
-How could I say no? -Whoa, whoa, whoa...
Wait, all right, wait. Wait, wait.
Okay. You start to pedal. That's it. You push.
What is all this?
Everything's changed, Trudy, we got a deal.
What kind of deal?
-A deal with LIFE Magazine. -What?
Don't worry, it's just an exclusive.
-Just one guy writing about us. -About us?
Gordo, how could you do that without talking to me?
Hey, how about you go play with your sister?
-All the guys agreed and... -And they don't have everything to lose.
That's exactly what we talked about. This isn't what we want.
It's $25,000... a year.
Trudy, that's three times my salary.
And we get to tell them what to write. We do, you and me.
They can't even print a comma without our okay.
Nobody else...
Nobody else gets squat about us. We write the story.
Hey.
This is a fresh start for us.
Baby, we got to get you back up in a plane.
Welcome, gentlemen, to the Center for Human Space Exploration.
This is Hangar S.
Where are the planes?
What planes?
-Well, let's take a look around. -Yeah.
Get out of here.
What do you do around here?
I'm a fireman.
Well, thank God. I'm burning up.
That's probably just the gonorrhea talking.
I'm Al Shepard, astronaut. Are you Dee?
Second Lieutenant O'Hara. Only my friends call me "Dee."
Well, I'll take a bottom bunk. Who wants up top?
Not me, I'm afraid of heights.
Where the hell is he going?
-I don't know, but I'm going with him. -Yup.
Excuse me.
Your highballs, gentlemen.
Fantastic, Henri.
Al, you're a damn genius.
- Hell, yeah, you are. - Hey!
-NASA's really gonna pay for all this? -Of course, they are. Haven't you heard?
We're star voyagers.
It looks like the boys are having fun.
Al, I really gotta hand it to you.
This sure beats the heck out of bunking in that hangar.
Yeah. It's nice and quiet here.
We just about got whole place to ourselves.
Well, don't worry.
I'll fix that, too.
Well, look at this beauty contest.
Thought I'd come have an inaugural sit down with one of you, but,
looks like you're my only option, Al.
I'm afraid I don't have much to tell you.
Look, I know this kind of stuff, reporters, interviews...
it's not your bailiwick, it's more Glenn's thing.
-I'm a private person, Wainwright. -Oh, that's just the point, though.
You can tell me anything. You can tell me nothing.
-You get the last word on all of that. -Yeah, and what's the catch?
No catch.
Al, my job is to ensure that the American public
sees seven American heroes on the newsstand.
And you, you help me craft your own story.
Fact by way of fiction can bring us closer to the truth itself.
That's one way to justify it.
All right.
I know what you want.
And I know what I want.
Okay, good. So, what do you want? Out of life, I mean?
What do I want...
The most out of life.
I wanna go fast
and be left alone.
You write something good, make me sound heroic.
Like John Glenn, but not so boring.
Hey! Watch out!
Sorry. I'm sorry.
Mrs. Patroosie told me you were riding with your eyes closed.
It's fun to do scary things sometimes. I understand that.
I'm not mad, Cammie.
But you know you can talk to me.
Mrs. Patroosie is a liar, okay?
I just didn't see the car.
Piece of tail, huh?
Yup.
A man can get himself into some real trouble
behind the wheel of this baby.
Jim Rathmann.
-Yeah, nice to meet you, I'm Alan Shepard. -Alan Shepard, astronaut.
We get the news down here too, you know.
So, what do you think? You interested?
Interested, yes.
But here's the thing, I'm only down here part-time.
Buying a car like this, just to leave it in a garage half the month, seems...
-Criminal. -Inhumane.
Here's what I'm thinking.
Maybe you and me, we can work out an arrangement.
Like a part-time deal, you know. When I'm in town...
Oh, wow.
-I sell cars, Al, I don't rent them. -Yeah.
Say you got something on the floor, just sitting there.
Well, that's just as inhumane, don't you think?
Okay. Here's what I'm gonna do.
-I'm gonna write down a number. -Oh, God, okay.
And you're gonna tell me if you can manage it.
We're proud to have you boys down here.
What do you say?
Nice meeting your wife the other night.
You got a good egg there.
I never got to say thank you for, uh,
what you did with LIFE Magazine and all.
Kinda helps us all.
This is the worst I've ever felt in my life.
I can practically smell the rum coming right out of you.
Well, look at you two. Picture of health.
-Did you get a damn Corvette? -Yeah.
It came with some cargo.
-Hi there. -Hi.
You tell Jimbo that I sent you.
And this is for you, and all the guys.
You, too, John.
The goodies are good down here, amigo.
Did you see that car?
What are these dollar bills for?
Who knows?
T-minus three, two, one, zero.
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