NARRATOR: Previously on The Right Stuff...
GLYNN: Just got a stack of requests for press credentials, 300 of 'em.
Kennedy is putting the launch on national TV live.
BOB: And John, it's been decided that you're the backup for this mission.
-When do I go up? -Two weeks.
(ALL LAUGH)
-You're gonna be an astronaut? -I hope so.
REPORTER 1: What do you men think about the idea of female astronauts?
-We sent up a chimp, didn't we? -(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
GORDON: May as well send up a lady someday.
(REPORTERS LAUGHING)
But my husband, he wasn't the one that got caught with some tart in Tijuana.
There were photos, Alan.
I'm going back home.
You think it was God's plan for you to send those letters?
I didn't write a thing in those letters that isn't true.
You want something bad to happen to me, because then you'd be first.
I can find love for you in my heart, Al.
I want you to know that.
ROY: Got storms up and down the coast.
If we get this wrong, the program is finished for good.
You know the problem with playing it safe, Bob?
BOB: You never know if you got it right.
Bad news, Al.
(INTENSE MUSIC BUILDUP)
(CLINKING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
MALE VOICE: We have to do that final test on the suit.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(CAMERA SHUTTERS CLICKING)
He's ready.
-He'll be okay. -(DEE SIGHS)
-He's a jerk sometimes. -(LAUGHS)
Yeah, I know.
But I hope he doesn't blow up.
Yeah. Me, too.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
MALE VOICE: (THROUGH RADIO) And we are, uh, docked, FIDO.
He's in the van.
CHRIS: Flight copies.
Relay to Grand Bahama. Shepard has arrived at transport.
Weather, proceed with briefing.
Balloon data's showing moderate wind speed, upper and lower levels.
We are green for LOX loading.
It's a good day for a launch.
Yes, it is.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO CONTINUES)
(STEAM HISSING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(HISSING CONTINUES)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES)
(CLANGING)
(THUDS)
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKS)
JOHN: Al...
she's all yours.
Put it the same way.
(CLANKING)
(JOHN CLEARS THROAT)
-You? -(CHUCKLES)
Well, I could get you the whole magazine
if you're gonna want some reading material while you're up there.
Comin' in. (GRUNTS)
(CLANKING)
(JOHN GRUNTS)
-John? -Yeah?
See you soon.
Happy landings, Commander.
-All right. Let's close her up. -(THUMPING)
-(SHUTTLE CLANKING, SHUTS) -(HISSING)
(ALARM BLARING)
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
SHORTY: We're about to push into the second hour of delay.
The latest hold stems from a small technical problem,
and I'm being told there is nothing to be concerned about.
-(EXHALES) -(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
CHRIS: How long?
How long does it take to get a damn inverter swapped out?
HOST: (OVER TV) Mr. Powers, Americans have seen
a number of NASA's test rockets fail catastrophically.
Should we be concerned for Astronaut Shepard?
SHORTY: Well, most of the spectacular malfunctions
-have concerned the Atlas rocket. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
SHORTY: Now, the Atlas won't be in use, and the Redstone rocket,
upon which Astronaut Shepard will be riding,
so far, it has proven to be relatively reliable.
LAURA: Relatively?
Is Dad going to be okay?
LOUISE: Well, of course.
He'll be just fine.
-WOMAN 1: Would you like another slice? -SHORTY: (OVER TV) Now, the Redstone,
which is the one that Astronaut Shepard will be riding upon...
REPORTER 1: Mrs. Shepard, can I get you to look this way, please?
REPORTER 2: And how are the kids holding up?
REPORTER 3: How many folks do you have inside?
LOUDON: Louise?
LOUISE: God, you people are relentless.
Oh, well it's a big story. They just wanna get a piece of it.
They want him to blow up.
That's what they want.
That's the big story.
-REPORTER 1: ...for a photo? -REPORTER 2: Mrs. Shepard, what are the...
Show's about to start.
You're on.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER FROM REPORTERS)
(INHALES, EXHALES DEEPLY)
FEMALE VOICE: Dave, you wanna get closer to me?
DAVE: No, no, no. This is a good spot right here, honey.
-(HELICOPTER WHIRRING) -(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY OVER PA)
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
Goddamn it.
Hey, Gordo.
-(RADIO CRACKLING) -GORDO: Go ahead, Al.
I have a problem.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
All right. Uh, Wernher.
-Alan's gotta go pee real bad. -(WERNHER CLEARS THROAT)
Okay.
There are two options.
We remove the astronaut, allow him to urinate...
rebuild the white room, and risk hours of delay
that will imperil a safe recovery due to limited daylight.
Okay.
Or...
we scrub the launch.
(SIGHS)
-(RADIO CRACKLES) -Flight, this is Stoney.
We got two bad options.
Hey, Flight?
Alan's gotta pee.
-Pure oxygen environment? -Short circuit could cause a fire.
GLYNN: Biomedical sensors everywhere, all hooked up to electrical leads.
-If they get wet... -Could be a disaster.
Could end our careers.
But...
you know the problem with playing it safe, Bob.
You don't get to send a man into space soaked in his own urine?
Tell him to go in his suit.
(GROANS)
-(RADIO CRACKLES) -DEKE: Hey, Al? Let it rip.
Uh...
Okay, Deke.
But you do know I have an electric thermometer up my ass.
I sure do.
Gonna power down now. Good luck, Al.
(POWER SHUTS OFF)
Well, here goes. (CLEARS THROAT)
(SIGHS)
-Okay. -(RADIO CRACKLES)
-Blockhouse, let's power back up. -(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
(ENGINE REVVING)
I'm good.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO CONTINUES)
TC, resume the countdown.
-That wasn't in the procedures manual. -No.
The inverter has been swapped out, and now we stand at T-minus
two minutes and thirty-nine seconds, and counting.
If there are no further delays, the launch sequence will begin shortly.
CHRIS: This is the real deal. Around the horn.
-Network. -NASA COMMUNICATION AGENT: Go, Flight.
-Recovery. -NASA CONTROL AGENT 1: Go.
-RSO. -NASA CONTROL AGENT 2: Go.
-Missile systems. -NASA CONTROL AGENT 3: Go, Flight.
-Capsule systems. -NASA CONTROL AGENT 4: Go, Flight.
-FIDO. -NASA CONTROL AGENT 5: Go.
-Surgeon. -Heart rate is hitting 200, Flight.
(HEART THUMPING)
But Surgeon is go.
TC, this is Flight. We're go.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
Let's go on and light this candle.
WALTER: He has been in his capsule for some four hours now,
waiting for this takeoff.
It has been delayed
-by numerous small problems... -(BREATHES DEEPLY)
-MALE VOICE: Now they're good to go. -WALTER: ...some technical,
and some weather.
Thirty seconds.
WALTER: Redstone rocket is ready. The Mercury capsule is ready.
This is America's effort after two and a half years of preparation,
two and a half years since the go-ahead was given to Project Mercury.
Ten, nine,
eight, seven...
Six, five, four...
three, two...
-One. -(INTENSE MUSIC BUILDUP)
(ENGINE REVS)
Roger, liftoff.
And the clock has started.
Go, Al, go.
Go.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
Come on, Al.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
Go, Alan.
Go, sweetheart.
Look at your dad go.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER TV) -(DRAMATIC MUSIC CONTINUES)
ALAN: Fuel is go.
1.8 G.
-Eight PSI cabin and the oxygen is go. -CHRIS: FIDO?
NASA CONTROL AGENT 5: Trajectory normal, Flight.
(CAPSULE RUMBLING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
-Where is he? -(RUMBLING CONTINUES)
Well, I guess your dad is a real spaceman now.
-ALAN: ...5.5 cabin. -NASA CONTROL AGENT 6: Roger.
-(RUMBLING) -(EXHALES)
DEKE: Max Q, through the gate.
-Okay. -(RUMBLING SLOWS DOWN)
A lot smoother now.
Engine cut-off in three, two, one.
-(ENGINE SHUTS OFF) -(THUDDING)
Cut off.
Tower jettison green. Disarm.
(ENGINE HISSING)
Cap sep is green.
(RUMBLES)
ALAN: Periscope is coming out and the turnaround has started.
(WHIRRING)
ALAN: Switching to manual pitch.
Switching to manual yaw.
Yaw is okay.
And Astronaut Shepard is acting like a real test pilot now,
as he flies the capsule manually.
(HISSING)
DEKE: Al, what do you see out the periscope?
(RUMBLING)
Come on.
(RUMBLING STOPS)
On periscope.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER OVER RADIO)
ALAN: Damn.
What a beautiful view.
I'll bet it is.
NASA CONTROL AGENT 7: Okay, go. Normal readings. All is nominal.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PAYING)
SHORTY: Now, at this point, Astronaut Shepard
has almost reached the apex of his flight.
He's on manual controls as he begins his descent back to Earth.
And when the capsule does reenter the atmosphere,
Astronaut Shepard will endure the most difficult portion of his flight,
as g-forces build up.
DEKE: Seven, initiate retro sequence.
Start retro sequence, retro attitude on green.
All three retros are fired.
Reentry attitude, switching to ASCS normal.
-ASCS okay. -(ENGINE REVVING)
(RUMBLING)
ALAN: G buildup.
Three.
Six.
Nine.
(VOICE BREAKING) Okay.
-CHRIS: Flight? -Ten Gs.
Environment?
NASA CONTROL AGENT 8: Capsule temperature, 110 and rising.
(SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING)
Freedom Seven, how do you read?
Come on, Al, come on.
Freedom Seven, do you copy?
(BREATHES SHAKILY)
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
Freedom Seven, do you copy?
-(RADIO CRACKLES) -ALAN: This is Seven. Okay.
MALE VOICE: Oh, yeah. You did so good.
ALAN: Switching to ASCS.
I'm back on ASCS.
-Drogue deploy. -Roger.
(RUSTLING)
Rescue copters are looking for a visual.
Copters have a visual. The main chute is out.
Capsule is A-okay.
Card File 23, this is Seven.
Relay to CAPCOM, please, 1,500 feet now, chute still looks good.
CARD FILE 23 OVER RADIO: Uh... Roger.
Preparing for impact.
(CHEERING, LAUGHING)
(EXHALES)
Rescue to manual, preparing for egress.
(ALL CHEER)
(CHEERING CONTINUES)
-It worked, you crazy kraut. -Of course it did. It's German!
MALE VOICE: Congratulations.
(ALL LAUGH)
That was perfect.
Congrats, Bob.
You, too.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Deke.
-Good job. -Thanks, Chris. You, too.
(SIGHS, CLEARS THROAT)
(JOHN SNIFFLING)
Don't worry. You'll go up soon enough.
Well, you could leave the aircraft carriers out there,
and just set up a new rocket for me.
Congratulations, Bob.
Thank you.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
NURSE: Hello, Mr. Shepard.
(SINGING) Ooh, would you like to swing on a star...
(ALL CHEERING, LAUGHING)
WALLY: You may have had the best seat in the house, Al,
but trailing in that F-106 is a hell of a close second.
Yeah, when Gus goes up, you should beg him to let you fly chase.
-You smell like space piss. -Do I? (CHUCKLES)
Two days of R&R, you think you can handle that?
Oh, well there's only one way to find out. Gus.
Couldn't have done it better myself.
-Congratulations, Al. -Thanks, John.
Uh... To hard work and dumb luck.
-Cheers! -Hear, hear.
WALLY: Hey, Dee.
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
CHRIS: Uh... Deke, hang back a second.
(SIGHS)
What's up, Chris?
We found something for you.
-A job. A position. -Okay?
We would like you to be a liaison
between the astronauts and the rest of the Space Task Group.
Like CAPCOM, but all the time.
What's it called?
I don't... I don't... I don't know, Deke. Uh...
-Astronaut Communicator. -Ass Com?
All right, wise guy.
You come up with something.
Chris...
thank you.
GUS: I don't know. Was it... was it lighter?
Was it like the parabolic flights,
or was the weightless feeling... different?
Well, um, you know, you're strapped down pretty tight.
-Yeah. -So, uh...
It's spectacular. Just you wait.
-(CHUCKLES) I'm not sure I can. -(CHUCKLES)
(LAUGHS)
Gus seems excited.
Well, he should enjoy it now.
Oh, come on. Don't tell me the bloom's already falling off the rose.
Well, there wasn't much bloom to begin with.
You know the traffic jam I got stuck in this morning
was longer than my actual flight?
Fifteen minutes, you go up and you come back down.
Come on. You're telling me 350,000 pounds of thrust under your keister
didn't give you a kick?
Being weightless?
-Seeing the stars? -I didn't see any stars.
I didn't see pretty much anything.
I knocked the goddamn neutral density filter over the periscope
and couldn't get the bastard unstuck.
Everything was just a big gray blur.
Nah.
No, I think you're in comedown mode.
Hell, you told the press
it was the greatest ride of your entire life.
Yeah. What did you expect?
It's a story.
I learned that trick from you.
Yeah, the truth is...
the simulator felt more real than the real thing.
And, yeah, it's a big accomplishment. It is.
But I bet it looked a whole lot better on television
than inside the capsule.
(SCOFFS)
What'd you expect to feel up there, Al?
I don't know.
Not nothing.
Nothing?
Al, you went to space.
You're the first American to do it.
Not to mention, you came home to a wonderful wife
and three sweet girls who love you. I mean...
that's a hell of a lot for one man. A hell of a lot. That's not nothing.
That's not just something, either. I mean, that's everything.
-You really believe that? -Of course I do.
(CHUCKLES)
What else is there?
The next thing.
Whatever that is.
You know, John...
I've been thinking a lot about what I said in San Diego,
at the seance...
about these appetites.
These hungers, how they control me.
I think I got it wrong.
I think I am my hunger.
And if you take that away...
there's not much left. It's the truth.
That's not true, Al.
-It is true. -No, it can't be.
Because that's no way to go through your life.
But you don't choose it. (EXHALES)
It's not the kind of thing...
you can choose. (SNIFFS)
Remember when you said you didn't wanna be me?
Yup.
-This is why. -It doesn't matter what you want, John.
You are me.
You are your hunger.
And you know it. Stop kidding yourself.
(DOOR OPENS)
(DOOR SHUTS)
(CAR DRIVING AWAY)
-Trudy, what I... -We're staying in the area for now.
We'll decide what happens next when the school year's over.
-Because of the press conference? -Yes.
I'm leaving because of one thing you said.
-You know me so well. -Then what?
How would I explain to my daughters
why I stay with a man who disrespects me so much?
-For God's sake, it was just a joke. -It wasn't funny.
It was in the moment. I wasn't...
Trudy, come on. Wh... what are you doing?
I love you.
I know you do. That's what makes this so hard.
But... you just play to whatever room you're in, Gordo.
That's the problem.
That's why you say dumb stuff on television,
or you end up in a cheap motel with Lurlene.
All I wanted...
all I asked...
was for this, you and me, to be the one constant.
I would've gone anywhere with you.
I would've done anything.
-I did, I came here. -Just keep it down.
The girls aren't home. They're next door.
So you, um, you got a whole plan, I see.
Trudy... this could affect my place on the program.
I wish for one moment you would finally worry
about how it affects me.
(SCOFFS)
This is real. I'm leaving.
I'm going to join Jerrie Cobb's program, and I'm gonna make my girls proud.
And I'm sorry if that complicates things for you, but...
guess I'll just have to live with that.
You know, I didn't know if you'd be here when I got back.
Here I am.
I'm sorry.
That's what I should have said at Canaveral...
and I'm sorry I didn't.
(ALAN SIGHS)
I'm...
-proud of you, Alan. -(ALAN CHUCKLES)
No, I am.
But you also hurt me.
(CHUCKLES)
And if I left, I think that it...
-would probably kill me. -(CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
But that doesn't mean that I would never do it.
KENNEDY: The dramatic achievements in space which occurred in recent weeks...
should have made clear to us all,
as did the Sputnik in 1957,
the impact of this adventure...
on the minds of men everywhere,
who are attempting to make a determination
of which road they should take.
Now it is time to take longer strides.
Time for a great new American enterprise.
Time for this nation to take
a clearly leading role in space achievement,
which, in many ways, may hold the key to our future on Earth.
I, therefore, ask the Congress,
above and beyond the increases
I have earlier requested for space activities,
to provide the funds which are needed to meet the following national goals.
First, I believe that this nation should commit itself
to achieving the goal,
before this decade is out,
of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth.
No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind,
or more important for the long-range exploration of space,
and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.
-We propose to accel... -(TV SHUTS OFF)
The Moon?
Holy shit.
He just kited a damn check.
On our account.
He just promised to do by 1970
something we don't know if we can do till 1980, or even '90.
Chris.
We don't know that we can ever do it.
JIM: No.
No?
It's premature, John.
NASA is a scientific organization, not a game of five-card stud.
-Does the president know that? -(JIM LAUGHING)
(INDISTINCT CHATTER)
Because he just pushed our chips into the middle of the table.
Presidents say a lot of things.
It's a headline, not a policy.
Right. Well, you can call me naive if you want, but...
I don't think he's gonna let the Soviets beat us to the punch again.
Patience, John. Please.
Patience.
With all due respect, sir, I think I've been plenty patient.
You astronauts... (GROANS) ...you're all the same.
Out for your own glory.
-Bunch of hotshots. -No, sir. I'm not a hotshot.
I am a God-fearing American.
And this country is made up of people just like me.
People who were told they're crazy for wanting more,
that it's folly to keep trying, keep pushing to do the impossible.
People who are hungry, Jim.
People who stay hungry.
No, my glory...
My glory is just this nation's glory. My success...
is its success.
You realize there are no television cameras in here, John.
That's how you know it's the real thing.
I'm not here to give you no dog and pony show.
The Redstone is a toy.
It's not big enough and it's not fast enough.
And Kennedy wants to go to the Moon in eight years?
That means we need to go faster.
The Atlas is faster.
And we need to pull up the orbital flights.
We need to start flying the Atlas now.
The country deserves it,
the marching orders from our president demand it,
and I'm the one to do it first.
We can't, John.
There's no way.
We'll never get to the damn Moon if they shut down this program
because all our astronauts are dead.
The Atlas keeps blowing up.
It's just too damn dangerous.
I know.
And I don't care.
-(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(BELL CHIMING)
(MUSIC PLAYING OVER RADIO)
-(DOOR SHUTS) -TRUDY: Okay. Let's go.
Hi. Two vanilla milkshakes, please. Okay.
(CLEARS THROAT) Sorry. Just a lot of moving parts right now.
-Thank you for coming. -TRUDY: Of course.
My psych evaluations have been sent. I'm just waiting on my medical records...
Trudy, I have to rescind the invitation.
You can't be a part of the program.
Oh. What?
Why?
-I'm passing all my flight eval... -It's not about you.
It's about your husband.
And what he said on national television.
You understand, we've got to distance ourself
from that kind of thinking.
I've left him.
We're separated for now.
I've been living at a friend's house with the kids for three weeks.
What would NASA think of that?
There's no way that they're gonna let the first woman in space be a divorcée.
You know that as well as I do.
So, I can't be married...
and I can't be divorced?
I'm a good pilot. That is all that matters.
(SIGHS, CHUCKLES)
I wish that were true.
(JERRIE CLEARS THROAT)
Look, I'm sorry, Trudy.
It's not fair.
But it's the world that we live in.
That's part of what I'm trying to change.
But... we're just not there yet.
(BELL CHIMING)
(DOOR SHUTS)
(SIGHS)
LURLENE: What are you doing?
(SIGHS) Um... I don't know.
(SCOFFS)
I don't know.
(INHALES, EXHALES)
Come back to bed.
(OPENS FRIDGE DOOR)
(MUSIC PLAYING ON RADIO)
ANNIE: Looks like some parade.
They're really going to do... do that after every flight?
Nope.
They won't even do it after Gus in the next one.
(CLEARS THROAT)
(MOANS)
Ah. Jeez, Louise. That's good.
You seem to be handling this... (STUTTERS) ...aw... awfully well.
JOHN: Don't sound so surprised.
(CHUCKLES)
It's like you said down in Cocoa, you know, it's just...
easier now that people know.
Al went up, and I didn't. So what? (CHUCKLES)
-It's... (STUTTERS) ...funny. -JOHN: What?
Well, you look... (STUTTERS) ...ju... just
-like my husband. -Mm-hmm.
-ANNIE: But... Mm. -But?
(BOTH LAUGH)
MALE VOICE: (OVER RADIO) Well, that certainly put us
in a romantic mood...
(CLEARS THROAT)
That's what makes it all easier.
Coming home to you and the kids.
There's nothing I could find in space that compares to what I got right here.
("TWILIGHT TIME" BY THE PLATTERS PLAYING OVER RADIO)
Heavenly shades of night are falling
It's twilight time
-Out of the mist, your voice is calling -(MUSIC GETS LOUDER)
It's twilight time
When purple colored curtains Mark the end of day...
-JOHN: Come on. -(CHUCKLES)
Come on. Come on, pretty lady.
ANNIE: Hmm.
(SINGING) Deepening shadows gather splendor
As day is done
Fingers of night will soon surrender
The setting sun
I count the moments, darling Till you're here with me
Together at last at twilight time
Here
In the afterglow of day
We keep our rendezvous beneath the blue...
(HIGH PITCHED SOUND RINGING)
LOUISE: Alan!
Alan...
What's wrong? Alan, what's happening?
(KNOCKING ON DOOR)
(SINGING) Lighting the spark of love that fills me
With dreams untold
Each day I pray...
GUS: Not bad, huh?
Congrats, my friend.
(SINGING) Together at last at twilight time
(GROANS)
(SINGING) Together at last at twilight time
(AIRCRAFT WHIRRING)
TRUDY: So, this tells you where your wings are
in relationship to the horizon, right?
This is our speed. That's the clock.
-CAM: Hmm. -TRUDY: This is the altitude,
which is how high we are up.
So... when we get up there...
if I do this,
you're gonna see the wings dip.
-See that? -Mm-hmm.
Cool, huh? Okay, so try yours.
Wherever you move it, the plane's gonna follow, right?
(CHUCKLES) So... Okay, careful. Careful.
You're a daredevil.
All right. Gentle.
Good. There you go. That's it.
-Okay. -Why are you telling me all this stuff?
So you can take the controls when we go up.
Would you like that?
(CHUCKLES)
That's what I thought.
Are we gonna move back in with Dad?
I don't know.
Hey. Let's get up there.
You ready?
(SPEAKS SOFTLY) Yes.
TRUDY: (CHUCKLES) All right.
So, no. No, don't touch that. Don't touch that.
Okay, so, first thing we need to do is we're gonna turn this one on.
Right? You do this.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)