Reel Engineering: The Right Stuff (1983) - Part II: I Want Test Pilots! 

Astronauts being treated as payload, and having to convince the management they were pilots and not passengers - happened for real between Mr. Korelev and Mr. Gagarin. Strange how a Soviet telltale has been incorporated into an American film...

"No... our Germans are better than their Germans..." classic line...

One of my favourite books, one of my favourite films, one of my favourite channels! Happy days.

In college I was able to spend some time at MAC working on the last of the Gemini's, you know, walking around with a clip board for credit. The astronauts were in and out; yet the one I got to like was Gus Grissom. We in the clean room called him "Gruesome Gus". He was a good engineer, and contrary to the movie wanted things to be built an run correctly. Believe me, these guys were brave and accomplished individuals with different and conflicting personalities but we needed them them then. Maybe we need their kind now.

I was in the USN ‘61-‘63. One of my first jobs was to shepherd pilots and air crews through a trip in a low pressure/high altitude simulator. One reason I was picked was that the “Space Suit” fit me. @ the time I was about 5’ 11”- 185#. These low pressure trips qualified the pilots/air crews(and me)for flight pay even though we weren’t flying(I was also a SCUBA Diver/Collector for the Marine Biology Museum).

I was 11 years old when my parents took me to see "The Right Stuff" at the theater, and it became one of my favorite movies of all time, certainly one of my favorite movies on the space program until "Apollo 13". I'm loving these video analyses of the movie from an engineering standpoint. Great stuff, my friend...Dare I say: The Right Stuff. No, please, don't get up...I'll show myself out. 🤪

That announcement "guy" was played WAY over the top...

I backtracked to Parts 1 & 2 as promised. I guess the film is so old that this new generation has little interest in it. A shame. You've done an excellent job giving us background and corrections to supplement the story told on film. Thank you!

4:35 I recognize this crash. Langhorne Speedway, 1951. The infamous "Sixty Second Wreck" from the 1951 Modified Sportsman Nationals.

NASA grounded Deke Slayton for a heart murmur, so he became the department head over the astronauts, and was eventually cleared for Apollo/Soyuz. Scott Carpenter screwed around too much on his mission, almost using up his maneuvering fuel, and was never given a mission again. He turned his attention to ocean research.

Project Mercury - Redstone (military), sub-orbital... Atlas (military), orbital... Project Gemini - Titan II (military)... Project Apollo, Saturn 1B, Saturn V (civilian)...

(2:36) I had no idea that the Vanguard satellite was so tiny. Quick and dirty, indeed. 🙂

Actually, Explorer 1 already launched on the evening of January 31, 1958. Vanguard successfully launched on March 17, 1958 and is the oldest surviving satellite today.

The Great Stuff 🚀

5:15 And the no, no, no, man is supposed to be Pres Eisenhower. What is Senate minority/majority leader Johnson doing in this meeting. He's only given the space thing by Pres Kennedy later as part of Vice Pres role.

I suppose this movie for the most part is historically accurate but the portrayal of Virgil Gus Grissom as a bumbling boob is offensive and an insult to this man’s legacy. His contribution to the subsequent Gemini and Apollo program was invaluable. He was a consummate professional and was respected by his peers. Shame on the director and writers to allow this. He ultimately gave his life with two others in the quest to send men on the moon before the end of the decade.

I've always felt that part of the Testing was actually two fold: 1) if something went wrong the doctors (& scientists) would have been asked: "Why didn't you test for this?!?!?" and 2) If they had some common denominators that all the successful astronauts had, then they could test for those denominators early and speed up the whole process!!!

"The Right Stuff" was derided by some critics as a "campaign film" for John Glenn, who entered the 1984 presidential race...

how does this only have 23 likes?

Why was Von Braun's role in the space program infamous? What bad thing did he do?

I've heard somewhere that NASA/NACA wanted only married pilots with kids because they were much more used to multitasking under stress condition. But I can't find a confirmation (source) anywhere. Do you have any idea if it is just a urban legend?

3:46 Not March 17. January 31 (February 1 by GMT).

Is this series solely about what was accurate in the 1983 movie and what wasn't?

von is pronounced "fonn".

This Movie was made during the Reagan Error, and the Patriotism is super hyped. It has been a Downhill Run ever since 1980