1. What was the one big question people had about Sputnik?
2. Why was “space” considered a “dirty word” at Langley?
3. Who wanted to manage the space program? Who actually won the title?
4. Why would NASA be scrutinized by the world?
5. What did the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 do?
6. What happened to West Area Computing and what did it mean for Dorothy?
Chapter 17: Writing the Textbook on Space Terms
Grueling
Inaccuracies
Inconsistences
Incomprehensible
Illogical
Insecurities
Persistent
Exasperated
Questions
1. What did Katherine Goble’s branch chief come up with and why?
2. What was closed to Katherine?
3. What was the literature review process?
4. What was it like to be a woman working at Langley?
Chapter 18: With All Deliberate Speed Terms
Constituent
Systemic
Aerodynamic
Deflect
Unprecedented
Trajectories
Ballistic
Propulsion
Mandarin
Collaborating
Questions
1. What was The Space Task Force’s new mission?
2. What was happening in Virginia at this time?
3. Who was James Johnson?
4. What were the different jobs of the Project Mercury engineers?
5. Who were The Mercury Seven?
6. What was Katherine Globe in charge of calculating?
7. What was significant about Katherine’s work?
19: Model Behavior Terms
Ingenuity
Colleague
Questions
1. What project did Mary take on with her son Levi?
2. What was the All-American Soap Box Derby and how did it get started?
3. Why didn’t blacks or girls enter the races?
4. Who won the race, and what was the significance?
5. What did he credit his win to?
Chapter 20: Degrees of Freedom Terms
Programmer
Modest
Splashdown
Deviation
Malfunction
Cosmonaut
Questions
1. What is a “sit-in,” and who organized the first one?
2. How did Mary Jackson’s alma mater have links to the civil rights movement?
3. How did Christine Mann get involved in the movement?
4. Why did Dorothy Vaungh need to reinvent herself and what did she do?
5. Why was orbital flight more dangerous?
6. Who ended up being the first human to orbit the Earth and why was that frustrating and embarrassing?
7. What did HAM stand for?
8. What did the launch of Mercury-Redstone involve?
9. What did President Kennedy promise?
10. What would NASA have to do to reach its goals?
11. To where did Mission Control move?
The Mercury Seven:
On April 9, 1959, NASA introduced its first astronaut class, the Mercury 7. Front row, left to right: Walter M. Schirra, Jr., Donald K. "Deke" Slayton, John H. Glenn, Jr., and M. Scott Carpenter; back row, Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, and L. Gordon Cooper, Jr.
Image Credit: NASA
97-16234
Copyright/Owner: Smithsonian Institution
Source: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
Photographer: Eric Long