Found in 2 comments on Hacker News
stoddler · 2016-01-03
· Original
thread
This book might be worth checking out http://www.amazon.com/The-Right-Stuff-Tom-Wolfe/dp/031242756...
hangonhn · 2014-11-08
· Original
thread
If you're interested in the extraordinary characteristics that are needed to be a test pilot or an astronaut or the early history of the space program, check out Tom Wolfe's "The Right Stuff" ( http://www.amazon.com/Right-Stuff-Tom-Wolfe-ebook/dp/B00139X... )
It also puts the Virgin and other private space travel experiments into context. This stuff is really hard and dangerous. It takes a special breed of people to sign up for it and then figure out how to survive when things go wrong or when things are less than ideal. It's not just guts but also a lot of intelligence and the ability to stay calm when you are less than a minute from oblivion. Chuck Yeager had a number of close calls.
