Film Lesson: "The Right Stuff"

"The Right Stuff" is a 1983 film about the astronauts who participated in Project Mercury. Project Mercury was the United States' attempt to send someone in space during the 1960's. This was because in 1957, the U.S.S.R. launched the satellite Sputnik. This started a competition between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. called the Space Race. For a large portion of the film, the Soviets were winning the competition while the U.S. still was not able to get a rocket to even launch. The Soviets already sent a rocket and a man to space. There was a funny scene in the film which showed many of the failed attempts of the U.S. launching a rocket.