Devildoc
Verified Military
I am a self-avowed space and aviation junkie. I do not have depression but I remember being a little suicidal when my vision started going south in my teens, and along with it any hope of being a Naval aviator. I bought this book in the late-80s, and read it every couple years. It's one of maybe a dozen books I re-read with some frequency.
More than "just" a book about the early NASA and Mercury program and world of test pilots, the most compelling part is about "the right stuff," why these pilots do what they do, the kind of world they live in, and the concept of "singular combat," a term in which someone fights on behalf of a group of people. In this case, Wolfe paints the test pilots and astronauts as warriors sent by all of us to fight the Russians in space.
Although there are many books--tons of books--about the history of the space program, biographies, autobiographies, etc., very few books do justice to the psychology of the nation, the inner sanctum of test pilots, and the unique thinking of early NASA like The Right Stuff.
It can be a fast read, and I recommend the book unequivocally to anyone with any interest in aviation and/or the space programs, especially the beginning.
More than "just" a book about the early NASA and Mercury program and world of test pilots, the most compelling part is about "the right stuff," why these pilots do what they do, the kind of world they live in, and the concept of "singular combat," a term in which someone fights on behalf of a group of people. In this case, Wolfe paints the test pilots and astronauts as warriors sent by all of us to fight the Russians in space.
Although there are many books--tons of books--about the history of the space program, biographies, autobiographies, etc., very few books do justice to the psychology of the nation, the inner sanctum of test pilots, and the unique thinking of early NASA like The Right Stuff.
It can be a fast read, and I recommend the book unequivocally to anyone with any interest in aviation and/or the space programs, especially the beginning.
