Previously on The Right Stuff...
Get ready, Gordo, I'm about to push through the number.
Cal!
It's fun to do scary things sometimes.
I'm not mad, Cammie. You know you can talk to me.
If you were to examine one of us,
and you found something, what would you do?
Anything you told me in confidence would remain private,
unless it jeopardized you or the project.
Screw von Braun.
He's getting soaked at the bar in a Santa Claus beard
while you're out here working.
I can tell you who I'd rather have a wingman.
This is Senator Kennedy's special advisor on all matters of science,
Jerome Wiesner.
Jack asked me to be here because he has some questions
about the manned space program.
Did you invite this guy?
- Al? - I messed up. I was with a girl.
There's pictures, there's a story that's going to come out
in the San Diego Herald.
I'm gonna take care of this.
You sold me out so you could win.
I've saved you, I saved all of you, dammit!
Each of you is qualified to make that first flight.
So this will be a peer vote.
Right down their name, hand it to Mr. Lunney.
If you could not make the flight yourself, who would you choose?
I've never really given it much thought, so I wasn't sure about it,
but Betty said the designers are playing with color this year.
She's real into fashion, now that we get our pictures taken so much,
reminds me of coffin lining, though.
Have you guys ever heard of fondue?
It's hot cheese in a bowl and it's just...
Gentlemen?
It's time.
Don't forget to smile, John.
Ladies and gentlemen.
I'm proud to introduce NASA's Astronaut, first team.
Now, in the next few months,
one of these exceptional men will be selected
for the first American space flight.
Which one of you is going to be the first?
Okay, John, level with me.
Off the record, you're first, aren't you?
Now you sure picked some day to fly out here.
Should I take that as a yes?
Why would NASA parade all three of us around
if they'd already picked number one?
You read mysteries?
They don't tell you who the killer is halfway through.
I figure NASA wants to milk the drama right up until launch day.
I mean, hell, they're taking bets on you guys out in Vegas.
- Guess who's the favorite? - Honestly, Loudon...
they haven't decided.
Okay.
Have it your way.
Come on!
You are first. I've been pushing NASA to announce it.
The sooner, the better.
Until it's public, they could still change their minds.
Thanks for the ride, John. See you back in Florida.
One twenty-four.
One twenty-five.
One twenty-six.
No, really.
Take a good long look.
You recognize that elbow right there?
Now, Carla, see this?
What did I tell you, this is prime astronaut elbow.
- So are you like a backup or... - A backup?
Nope, I'm gonna fly. We all are.
Just a little later.
- Uh-huh. - Uh-huh.
And the missions are gonna get more...
complicated, so...
...you can keep that.
Maybe they're right. At this rate, we might never go up.
- We'll all go up. - Sure, we'll go.
But in the meantime...
I catch this, Wally buys the next round.
Hey, wait a second.
Nope, double or nothing. Double or nothing.
Oh. Come on.
It's good, it's good, it's good.
Hey, Deke, toss me a glass.
Sorry, Henri, just, uh, having a little bit of fun.
- You know what? I've got it. - It's...
I've got it!
Got it.
You all right?
I'm okay. I'm okay. I'm okay.
- There you go. - Here's the thing.
Very scared.
Just tumbling all over, tumbling, rumbling and tumbling and rolling and...
see, I was... I was just on chase,
you know, and... he was...
I could... I could see... I could see... I could see him...
I watched...
I watched him...
You know, man, I think...
it should've been me.
He was good... he was a good guy.
He was.
He was my friend.
Now, just get some rest, Mr. Cooper.
Yeah. Yeah, rest. Rest, yeah. Yeah.
- Yeah. - Thank you. Rest.
...multi-axis demonstrations, heat stress tests, centrifuge tests,
emergency procedure demonstrations,
and a thorough review of all medical records.
Who's they?
Presidential Scientific Advisory Committee.
PSAC?
- Are you kidding? - Joke's on us, Al.
The chairman is Dr. Jerome Wiesner.
You might remember him from the New Year's party last year.
Right, John invited him.
The president is deeply skeptical of this agency, gentlemen,
and every bureaucrat in D.C. knows it.
I'm going up in two months.
They want us to waste time now?
That'll give the Russians more time to get there first.
The president is afraid we're gonna blow you up, Al.
To him, NASA's high profile and high risk, and that is a bad combination,
especially for a program he inherited from the republicans.
We succeed, Eisenhower gets the credit.
You end up scattered all over Cape Canaveral,
Kennedy takes the blame.
This committee is gonna issue a report. It'll go straight to the president's desk.
So we're cooked?
They need a reason to shut us down.
Let's ace these demonstrations.
When do these pencil-dicks get here?
Get on in there.
Welcome...
Welcome to the Starlite, gentlemen.
Welcome to Florida, gentlemen. Right this way.
Dr. Wiesner. It's an honor having you stay with us.
Al?
Al? They're waiting for you.
Just a second.
Are you okay?
Never better.
Mr. Wiesner, gentlemen, our first three.
We understand that you have a concern
about the safety of a spacecraft landing in the ocean.
Mr. Kraft here will introduce our preparations
for any mitigating circumstances.
- Chris? - Good afternoon.
In the unlikely event
that the capsule splashes down off target
or is breached and taking on water...
the astronaut can use an emergency egress procedure
to safely exit the craft.
Lieutenant Commander Shepard
will demonstrate that for you now.
Hey, Bob. This better work.
Pull.
Come on.
Something's happening.
'Bout time, huh?
Okay.
- A little bit quicker. - I agree.
- Come on, let's go. - Okay, divers, move in.
Sorry if I woke you.
What is this?
Annie, that isn't... It's...
"Shepard's conduct can only be described
"as moral turp..."
Turpitude.
John, what are you...
Al Shepard doesn't deserve this, all right?
I mean, he's selfish, he can't be trusted.
People need to know that. People who can do something about it.
They ought to know now?
Of all times... I mean, the program
- is in real trouble. - I know that, Annie.
That's why they need to know about Al now more than ever.
I mean, if this program is gonna survive, we need the right man out front.
That might just be me.
This... it isn't you, John.
Please...
come to bed.
Until NASA...
announces Al Shepard to the public...
I can still change their minds.
This... This could really work.
That's what I'm afraid of.
Annie.
Some reporter caught him screwing some girl.
I mean, in Tijuana.
There were... ...there were photos.
It was nearly in all the papers and I'm the one that saved him.
I'm in the right here.
A... Annie, come on, please.
Annie...
- Hello? - Dad?
Hey, baby girl.
What time is it?
- Did I wake you up? - No.
Your mom let you stay up this late?
I couldn't sleep.
Well, I guess that makes two of us.
Hey, is, uh, something the matter?
- I'm okay. How are you? - How am I?
Are you, uh... You sure nothing's wrong?
Sometimes I think something might be wrong with me.
What do you mean?
I don't know. I do dumb stuff.
Like what kind of dumb stuff?
Mom never told you about this,
but I ran my bike into the neighbor lady's car
with my eyes closed.
She told me I had a screw loose.
If you do, baby girl, it's not your fault.
You got a couple of nuts for parents.
Dad, when are you coming home?
Not for a while still, sweetie.
You don't sound so great.
Don't worry your little head about me, okay?
I miss you.
I miss you too, Cammie.
I should go.
Okay, sweetheart. I love you.
John?
Nice.
Great, great.
Speed up a little bit for me.
Slow down, slow down. Need to smooth out a little bit.
Bounce that down on the Glenns a little bit more.
Smile, you two!
You're at the beach, you're having fun.
Nice.
Hey, Shepards!
Serving up a nice slice of apple pie, right?
Great, nice.
Game's not over yet.
Al.
Come on in.
We need to do a little more work.
They wanna send a chimpanzee into space first, before your flight.
A chimp?
What, are they gonna send a chicken up next?
See how good he is at checkers?
It's gonna delay us.
How long?
A while.
How long?
Sorry, fellas. But, the first American in space won't be
a Mercury Seven astronaut,
it'll be a chimpanzee named, Ham.
He will be launched into orbit by the Redstone, the same rocket
that will be used for manned spaceflight.
He will be trained to hit these levers in response to flashing lights
to test if primates can perform tasks in zero gravity.
The outcome of Ham's voyage will determine whether or not the President
will continue the NASA program.
Good luck to America's first chimp in space.
Twenty seconds and counting.
T-minus 15 seconds.
Twelve, eleven, ten, nine,
eight, seven,
six, five, four, three,
two, one, lift off.
We have lift off.
Come on, little guy.
- Velocity is go. - Velocity is go.
Performance and trajectory are go.
Subject respiration normal. Heart, normal.
Flight, we've exceeded nominal pitch angle.
- Computers predict a 17-G load. - Okay.
How is the subject?
The heart rate is elevated, performance normal.
Flight, we're showing on board abort initiated.
Flight, I confirm early engine shutdown.
Capsule set confirmed. LES ignition.
Can't slow him down now, I'm recalculating splashdown trajectory.
Okay, FIDO, give me an update.
Still calculating updated splashdown, Flight.
And how's our subject?
Is it over?
For us or the chimp?
Is there a difference?
They recovered the capsule.
Little fella's doing just fine.
The rocket was overpowered, Mr. Webb,
causing the capsule to splash down
a hundred and thirty miles off course. It ran out of fuel,
it lost pressure, guidance malfunction, and then it nearly sank.
The chimp lived, he was fine. Look at him.
- He's smiling. - Chimpanzees do not smile,
they only bear their teeth when threatened.
The mission objective was to establish that a primate could perform
under the extreme conditions of flight,
by that standard, it was a clear success.
Ham didn't miss a beat. We recovered him in perfect health.
It's all right there in your flight data.
As are a multitude of engineering problems.
The capsule systems performed well within the established parameters.
Dr. Wiesner personally observed our emergency protocols
and can attest that any of our men would've easily survived this.
So, we should sail a leaking ship since the crew are good swimmers?
Are we a trying to win a space race or not?
We are trying to avoid a national catastrophe.
Maybe your professional ambition has blinded you to the fact
that men's lives are at stake here.
Jerome, where I come from, you attack a man's character, you better stand...
Mr. Webb, I find this all as troubling as you do,
and as an aerospace engineer
I hold myself personally responsible for the Redstone's performance.
If the president's trusted advisors have any doubts,
I propose that our team make additional refinements.
- In which case... - Hold on Wernher, we are not
going to take rockets up every day...
- This is not some pumpkin run... - ...if we can't hit a goddamn target.
Mr. Webb, the president sent you here to decide the fate of this program,
so let me ask you this,
did the men who carved this country from a wild frontier
shy away from personal risk
when they had to cross the Missouri at high flood?
Did our Founding Fathers quibble over semicolons before sending
the Declaration of Independence to King George?
Sir, our intrepid spirit at challenging times
is what makes the United States
not merely a great nation,
but the greatest of nations.
There is nothing...
nothing more important to us than the safety of our astronauts.
But this...
sir, this is a fight to stir the hearts of the entire world.
And if we are too timid to bring our best efforts to fruition
then the truth is, we have already lost.
So PSAC's letting you move forward.
They asked for a show, we gave them a show, fireworks and all.
We? I gave them the show.
Okay? So, you put that down.
- Got it. - It turns out the only problem they had...
was with you lot.
- What problem? - Oh, you did not hear.
Something in the man's medical file...
just came to light.
Yup.
They're changing the flight order.
- What? - Mm-hmm.
Oh, my friend, look at, you have nothing to worry about.
Now, that one?
Me? What?
Up and away, gentlemen. Up and away.
Which one was mine?
What the hell was that?
What do you know about this change to the flight order?
- What are you talking about? - Are they sidelining me?
- I don't know what you heard, but... - It was you.
- You wrote something in my file? - No. Why would you say that?
Von Braun said that there was problem with someone's medical record
and you are the only one who knows.
Knows what, Al? What do I know about?
I don't know anything, because you don't tell me anything.
You let me help you, you let me think, "Hey, maybe we're friends."
And then you show up here and you scream in my face?
And it's not just me, you do this with everyone.
One minute, you're Smiling Al, the next minute, you're this.
I mean, what's the matter with you? Why don't you want people to like you?
I do want people to like me, of course I do.
Why do you think I wanna be the first man in space?
You do know something...
don't you?
I can't tell you, okay?
Don't try to make me.
Be a man and go ask Kraft yourself.
Annie! I'm home!
Well, hello.
- Welcome home. - Hi, thank you.
Bob, to what do we owe this pleasant surprise?
John. Annie, would you give us a few minutes?
Happy anniversary.
How many of these did you send?
I have six.
From folks who saw it fit to bring to my attention.
How many more are there, John?
- I was only... - You do realize
the manned space program is hanging by a thread.
Bob, I want you to listen, all right? I... I saved this program.
If... if I hadn't kept Shepard's little incident out of the papers,
we would've been shuttered months ago.
So this is the thanks I get, huh?
Being trotted around like an idiot,
having to pretend like I still have a shot.
- You are way out of line. - Oh, I'm out of line?
I am? Me?
I mean...
Bob, I am trying to help you.
I'm trying to keep you from making a horrible mistake.
Al Shepard is unfit to serve.
John.
Right now...
you're the one who seems unfit.
Listen to me. This ends here.
If Jerome Wiesner got wind of this,
the whole agency would go ass over teakettle.
And who knows what would be left after all the shit got cleared away.
- I... - Stop!
Happy anniversary.
I didn't...
You wanted to see me?
Deke, yeah.
Um, get the door for me.
Take a seat.
Have a drink.
Whoa, cowboy, it's not even 10:00 a.m.
Have a drink with me, Deke.
Okay.
You know...
I think you're the best damn pilot in this whole program.
If it was up to me, you'd be first.
But it wasn't up to you, I know that.
What's going on, Chris?
Something's come up.
Something that's, um...
- it's concerning. - Chris.
It's your arrhythmia.
Wiesner's guys found it
when they were going through everyone's medical records.
The arrhythmia, no, that's... that's not a problem.
The Air Force surgeons cleared me for that years ago.
They, um...
they think it's too risky.
Too risky for now?
Too risky, period.
They're grounding you, Deke.
That's it?
I threw away my commission to join this program.
Jesus Christ.
I understand.
- And we're gonna find a place for you. - Oh. A place?
We're gonna find something for you to do here.
Chris.
Don't let them do this. I mean...
you're my friend.
I just... I bought... I bought a house. Marge got a Buick.
You can fix this.
You can tell them, you can tell Bob,
tell him... tell him what you said,
that you would have sent me up first.
- That was before, Deke. - Tell them what you think is best.
This...
is best, Deke.
Aren't you gonna open it?
It's a gravy boat.
The lady at the shop called it a, uh... saucier.
Hello, this is Shorty.
What?
Wait.
Wait. Slow down, slow down. We're all asleep down here.
Are you joking?
- What's going on? - It's the Russians.
I'm sorry, guys. They put a man in orbit.
Dammit.
All right, what do we do now?
I don't know.
In a devastating blow
to the U.S. in their battle against the Soviet Union to win the space race,
Yuri Gagarin, a Soviet Air Force pilot is the first man in space.
History has spoken and Russia is the victor
in the opening battle of the space race.