The Right Stuff

VII. The Cape

Cocoa Beach

“[It] was so Low Rent that nothing on this earth could ever change it.”(page 127)

Where was the headquarters of the Atlantic Missile Range for the testing of the weaponry of the Cold War?

Patrick AFB

Rocket garden in front of the Air Force Technical Applications Center, circa 1960's

“The tradition was: the Cape is off limit to wives.” (pg. 129)

1. Not a good place for wives & children1. No kitchen facilities in the motels2. No beach resort amenities3. None of the astronauts could afford plane fares for family trips to Florida

2. Astronauts’ training hours were very long, sometimes 10-12 hrs a day

Who owned the Chevrolet Cadillac dealership in Melbourne, Florida and befriended Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, and Alan Shepard?

Jim Rathmann

What is Jim Rathmann best known for? For winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1960 after having finished second three times

Cocoa Beach

“Before the missiles came to the Cape, Cocoa Beach was a hard-shelled Baptist stronghold with more churches than gasoline stations…. But the new Cocoa Beach,

the Project Mercury boom town, was part of the new face of the 1960’s…”(page 133)

1950s - The AstroCraft Motel - an indication of the impact of the Space industry on Cocoa Beach

Jim Rathmann was friends with Ed Cole. Who was he?The president of Chevrolet at the time

What did Jim Rathmann convince Ed Cole to do?He convinced Ed Cole to setup a program which supplied each astronaut with a pair of new cars each year.

Most chose a family car for their wives and a Corvette for themselves. Alan Shepard recalls Corvettes lined up in the parking lot outside the astronaut offices at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and friendly races between Sheppard and Grissom along the Florida beach roads.

Astronaut Alan Shepard's Corvette on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

DEFINITION OF A SPORTS CAR: A HEDGE AGAINST THE MALE MENOPAUSE.