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From left to right: Micah Stock as Deke Slayton, Jake McDorman as Alan Shepard, Aaron Staton as Wally Schirra, … [+]
With everything going on in the world to try to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, it is encouraging to reflect on what humanity can achieve with the right motivation. There is no better example of ingenuity than we are capable of than NASA’s Mercury Project. Disney + announced today that it will air the original National Geographic series “The Right Stuff” this fall.
The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union launched a race to outdo each other and claim dominance of outer space. In an effort to reject a feeling of fear over the spread of communism and a general decline in American morale, the United States government committed to Project Mercury.
Long before anyone thought of shows like “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” or “Real Housewives,” the seven astronauts selected for Project Mercury introduced the United States to the concept of reality TV stars. These men, each an accomplished military pilot in their own right, were suddenly household names and celebrities.
The series will also analyze NASA engineers who worked on the Mercury Project. The nation’s best engineers projected it would take decades to reach space. The United States government gave them two years. NASA engineers worked tirelessly under intense pressure to overcome challenges with creative and intelligent solutions.
I am eager to see this series. The 1983 film adaptation of The Right Stuff is one of my 10 favorite movies of all time. I am fascinated by NASA and outer space, and Tom Wolfe’s narrative does an excellent job of showing both the triumphs and tragedies of the Project Mercury program. It is interesting and compelling, and I look forward to seeing what National Geographic can do with it over the course of 8 episodes instead of just 3 hours.
“This true story of scientific innovation and human perseverance could not be more timely,” Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Global Television Networks, said in a press release. National Geographic’s “The Right Stuff” is an aspirational tale of exploration, ambition, determination, and resilience and reminds us that human beings can achieve the extraordinary when united by a common purpose.
There are some parallels between Hercules’ effort to reach outer space and the current efforts of the medical and scientific communities to develop tests, treatments, and vaccines that can help us prevent and treat COVID-19 to overcome this pandemic. With the right combination of data, analysis, ingenuity, and innovation, humanity will eventually defeat COVID-19 just as Project Mercury astronauts were able to venture beyond Earth’s atmosphere to the new frontier of outer space.
Watch for National Geographic’s “The Right Stuff” at Disney + this fall. In the meantime, if you’re looking for something to watch while you’re in COVID-19 quarantine, I highly recommend watching the movie “The Right Stuff” as an introduction.
