The Right Stuff Page #3

This is secret footage

of the Russian Korabl rocket...

and these are the German scientists

that they captured after the war.

Was it their German scientists

who got them up there first?

No, it was not, Senator.

Our Germans are better

than their Germans.

That's Titov on the right

and on the left is Gagarin.

No, Titov's on the left.

Gagarin's on the right.

They bear a great resemblance

to each other.

If the Soviets ever do put a man up there,

it will be one of these two.

Most likely, the one on the left.

- Gagarin.

- Titov.

Isn't that their chief designer?

We know very little about him.

- Let us see him again.

- Here's some more of him.

They've developed a program

of stupendous dimensions...

and he is clearly the genius behind it.

I, for one, do not intend to go to sleep...

by the light of a Communist moon.

Get that moron off of there!

We could have orbited

a satellite a year ago...

if we had been given a green light.

Now we must get something up there

quick and dirty, any way at all.

Well, what?

By combining our available rockets,

the Redstone, the Atlas...

I agree that we could launch a pod.

A pot?

A pod.

A capsule.

Now, we will be in full control of this pod.

It will go up like a cannonball...

and come down like a cannonball...

splashing down in the ocean...

with a parachute to spare the life

of the "specimen" inside.

Spaceman?

"Specimen."

Well, what kind of "specimen"?

A tough one.

Responsive to orders.

I had in mind a chimp.

"Jimp"?

Well, what the hell is a "jimp"?

A chimp. A chimpanzee, Senator. An ape.

The first American into space

is not going to be a chimpanzee.

Who would you put into space,

Mr. President?

We have film of some people

we think are strong candidates.

We'd like to run it by you

and stimulate some thinking.

These are people we felt

would be excellent in the splashdown.

We like the one on the right.

- No, on the left.

- On the right. Don't embarrass me!

These people are very experienced with

machinery and have their own helmets.

Is that a factor?

As you'll see...

they're quite comfortable

in conditions of flame.

Now this is personnel

who have very well-developed equilibrium.

Good middle ear. Also very nice people.

Very easy to work with.

With some work,

they could be very responsive to orders.

This is my first choice.

The man with the hood.

Since he works without eyesight,

his other senses are sharpened.

In space there'll be little need

for eyeballing at any rate.

The cannonball effect you mentioned...

We were basically thinking about...

putting a couple into orbit.

Possibly adds emotional stability.

This individual combines many

plus factors that we mentioned.

Ease with flames, comfort at heights

and agility in the splashdown phase.

Also, he is available as of the 15th.

I want test pilots!

Test pilots? No, you can't deal with them.

I'm sure we can do better

with another type of man...

any other type of man.

A more manageable type.

It will only complicate things.

With a man we must guarantee

a safe return.

Mr. President, I think

you'd be wise to reconsider.

No, Lyndon.

Test pilots?

We'll be heading for some air bases.

Not just some air bases.

The one with the great test pilots.

There's only one place to go.

I was there once before

and I hoped I'd never have to go back.

It's a god-forsaken spot on the roof

of the high desert in California.

A prehistoric throwback

of an airfield called Edwards.

They've got a weird, mad-monk squadron.

They live in rat shacks, terrible conditions.

Corrugated tin, bare bones, low rent.

This is the joint they hang out in.

Pancho's Happy Bottom Riding Club.

It's called Happy Bottom Riding Club?

How'd it get a name like that?

Ask Pancho.

- Lock up?

- Yeah.

We're meeting the Liaison Officer.

They are expecting us.

They? Who's "they"?

The best...

Give me that!

- The best test pilots in the world.

- Here?

They got some kind of brotherhood.

They think they got the right stuff.

What stuff? Heroism, bravery?

There any snakes around here?

Yeah. In the bushes.

Heroism and bravery are part of it.

But seems to be more to it.

What do they say it means?

They don't say anything.

They don't talk about it.

They don't talk about it to outsiders?

To each other.

To outsiders they say even less.

Anyway, they're all here.

Including the ace of aces himself.

Who's that?

Yeager.

Never heard of him.

These must be our gentlemen

from Washington...

scouting for astronauts.

Welcome to Edwards.

Scouting for lab rabbits, more likely.

I didn't quite hear you.

I said, "Lab rabbits."

What's that mean?

It means you don't need

honest-to-God pilots.

What you ought to get is a lab rabbit

to curl up in your damn capsule...

with its heart beating...

and a wire up the kazoo.

I don't hold with it.

I don't either.

You want a pilot to be a ballistic missile.

And then splashdown.

Possibly get lost at sea.

There's some things you can't change.

Some peckerwood's

got to take the beast up.

And some peckerwood's got to land it.

And that peckerwood is called a pilot.

You're mighty right.

The boys smell panic in your program.

That's one thing they don't respond to.

Now maybe if we talk privately

to Yeager and some of the other boys...

That's Yeager?

Anybody goes up in the damn thing

is gonna be Spam in a can.

I'll drink to that!

- Yeager doesn't fit the profile.

- Yeager doesn't fit?

He didn't go to college.

We're only taking college personnel.

Forget about Walker and Crossfield

and the other civilian pilots, too.

The security clearance just takes

too long with those people.

Besides, they seem

a little too independent.

You mean for this space race...

you don't want our best pilots?

I didn't say that.

We want the best pilots that we can get.

Y'all want some whiskey?

No, thanks, Fred. Just a little coffee.

- I'd like a Coca-Cola.

- Coke?

In a clean glass.

There's an old saying:

"Never refuse a combat assignment."

Well, there sure is a long line

of sh*t-hot rocket aces around here.

Hey, Hot Dog.

What the hell's "astronaut" mean anyway?

Star voyager.

Star voyager Gus Grissom.

I like the sound of that.

Now your name is?

My name, Jos Jimnez.

Who are we gonna get

to take on the Russians?

Have you seen this Jos Jimnez?

He's a crack-up.

I am the chief astronaut

of the United States Interplanetary...

My name, Jos Jimnez.

Now I see you have some

of your space equipment with you.

What is that called? The crash helmet?

Oh, I hope not.

Get that guy off.

The country's already laughing at us.

This is the show I wanted you to see.

Who, that kid?

Winner of five

Distinguished Flying Crosses...

and holder of the coast-to-coast,

nonstop, supersonic flight record...

from the U.S. Marine Corps...

Major John Glenn!

That guy.

Can you tell us what's that song?

Straighten Up and Fly Right.

It's Straighten Up and Fly Right.

He's not dumb.

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