The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff is a lively account of the early American space program and its roots in the subculture of military test pilots that developed after World War II. Wolfe’s eclectic, wide-ranging narrative combines numerous elements: technological advancements in mid-20th-century flight; the generation of daring pilots who pushed innovations to their limits; and reflections on the moral, cultural, and political significance of the first astronauts at the height of the Cold War. Taken together, these components provide a unique, richly textured portrait of a major episode in modern American history.

The central protagonists of Wolfe’s narrative are the so-called Mercury Seven, the first astronauts NASA chose with the aim of sending a human being into space. The successes and setbacks of Project Mercury, from its inauguration in 1959 to its six missions in space from 1961 to 1963, form the core of The Right Stuff. The narrative closely acquaints the reader with each of the seven astronauts—their personalities, families, ambitions—as well as the disagreements among them as the space program becomes one of the focal points of American public life. For Wolfe, the Seven (briefly) achieve secular canonization through the public eye that is almost without parallel in American history.