Not to be redundant for I wandered off into this subject in my last visit here when I shared my watching the movie The Right Stuff.

But after watching the movie again, I couldn’t help but go and dig out my totally worn out 40-year-old paperback copy of Tom Wolfe’s book that inspired the movie.

I was only 6-years-old when the Mercury program began and I avidly followed the exploits of what I romantically called “star voyagers”.

Yes, even at that young age, I was already thinking and speaking in visionary, metaphorical ways.

And what could be even more exciting to a young boy than the idea of blasting off into space?

The idea of “blasting off” leads directly into the beginning of the definition of the term “the right stuff”.

There are any number of things that comprises having the right stuff, and one of the number one qualities would be courage, for what would be needed to sit on top of a nine story candlestick awaiting the ignition of liquid oxygen and kerosene to propel such a bulky object through the restraints of Earth gravity and escape into the vastness of the universe.

And having seen so many of our early test launches disintegrate in huge explosions, a common expression of talk about our rockets was “…ours always blow up!”, a sight our training astronauts had seen several times.

The initial epitome of the right stuff was the test pilot Charles “Chuck” Yeager, the man who challenged that demon that lived in the air, the sound barrier.

In October 1947, he became the fastest man alive by going over 750 miles per hour in level flight, creating the first sonic boom.

When that happened, he had created a new level of right stuff that all pilots aspired to reach.

According to Tom Wolfe, the right stuff was a mysterious gift that test pilots possessed, giving them the drive to commit themselves to the ultimate dedication of being the best, constantly pushing the outside edge of the envelope, in other words, trying to go beyond the limit of what is expected of man or machine.

Though Chuck Yeager isn’t the main character of the book or movie, I feel his part in the movie is the most exciting of all and truly exemplifies what the right stuff truly is.

And, ironically, the real Yeager has a bit part in the movie, playing a bartender at Pancho’s, the joint the test pilots hung out at.

I could go on and on and on about this book, as well as the movie. But I’ve said enough, already, so ’nuff said!

I will close, though, with this bit of sadness. It truly breaks my heart to realize that all seven of these pioneers, the original astronauts known as the Mercury 7, have lifted off on their final journey into the heavens, forevermore to be looking down on us.

But I will never forget them; they’ll forever live in my boyhood memories; and I’ll forever try to live my life practicing the way of “the right stuff”, pushing the edge of the envelope in search of the “right way” to live and achieve.