The Right Stuff (film)

The Right Stuff (film)

The Right Stuff is a 1983 American film adapted from Tom Wolfe's 1979 book The Right Stuff about the test pilots who were involved in high-speed aeronautical research at Edwards Air Force Base as well as those selected to be astronauts for Project Mercury, the United States' first attempt at manned spaceflight.

The story contrasts the "Mercury Seven" and their families with pilots like Chuck Yeager. While never selected as an astronaut, Yeager was considered by many test pilots to be the best of them all. The Mercury Seven were Scott Carpenter, Gordon Cooper, John Glenn, Gus Grissom, Wally Schirra, Alan Shepard, and Deke Slayton.

The film stars Scott Glenn as Shepard, Ed Harris as Glenn, Fred Ward as Grissom, Dennis Quaid as Cooper and Sam Shepard as Yeager.