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

[@theknifedude1881]

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).

[@2140BlackCreek]

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.

[@m1t2a1]

This is making me look at Tony Nelson and Roger Healey in a whole new light. Just think, one of them even had a Jeannie.

[@arobatto]

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.

[@PadraigTomas]

Years later, Grissom's spacecraft and its hatch were found on the ocean floor. It was evident that he hadn't commanded the hatch to blow. It malfunctioned.

[@keiththorpe9571]

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. 🤪

[@SkydiveCarpathian]

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

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

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

[@GeorgeBurroughs-ju1sg]

As a child I lived on Sandia base in Albuquerque. We were connected to the Lovelac clinic. Please see my statement to the ❤Presidential Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments in San Francisco California in October 1994.

[@rayoflight62]

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...

[@timengineman2nd714]

Actually the US Astronauts were originally just cargo, but were able to get the controls and windows installed before the first manned flight. The Cosmonauts, at first, were just cargo....

[@cedricgist7614]

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!

[@timewaster504]

I'm honestly shocked there are not more people my age who have seen this movie. I'm at a university full of aerospace nerds and I'm yet to meet another student who has seen this movie.

[@noviranger88]

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

[@michaelnelson3752]

Yup one of my childhood heroes was in the crash.................V2 - Dick Linder who later died in an Indy car race at Trenton in 1959 hoping to make it to the 500 in the late 50s.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

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.

[@mejurgensen]

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

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

just building the V-2...he was pretty much amoral about his work...

[@mejurgensen]

@@igorschmidlapp6987 Okay, I agree, but that was before his involvement with the US space program.

[@PadraigTomas]

Slave labor was used to manufacture V-2 components. The slaves were subjected to inhumane conditions and were murdered. Von Braun knew. He denied knowledge and responsibility. Von Braun was also a member of the SS.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

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

[@CybershamanX]

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

[@markodeen4105]

The Great Stuff 🚀

[@alan-sk7ky]

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.

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

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

[@timengineman2nd714]

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!!!

[@KC2MFCs]

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.

[@ronaldgarrison8478]

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

[@markotrieste]

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?

[@timewaster504]

how does this only have 23 likes?

[@igorschmidlapp6987]

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

[@JohnJordan-x5b]

It’s strange to me that you reference the book we7 so much. The movie is named the Right Stuff. Which is the name of the book “The Right Stuff” which the movie is based on. Almost all the themes of the book are portrayed in the movie. In particular all the pilots were very concerned about how much “piloting” they would be doing. Sure you can do testing on communication, rockets, control panels etc. But the fact that they wouldn’t actually control the space craft itself certainly challenged their feeling of what a “pilot” actually was. This is a major reason the attitude control capability was added. So to say the movie grossly misrepresented the concerns of the first astronauts I think might be inaccurate.

[@juanitajones6900]

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

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

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

[@suitandtieguy]

You Need More Capital Letters

[@pjimmbojimmbo1990]

@@suitandtieguy IF YOU INSIST!!!