The Right Stuff plot
At the height of the Cold War in 1959, the Soviet Union dominates the space race. To combat a national sentiment of fear and decline, the U.S. government devises NASA's Project Mercury, which kicks off a space race with the Soviets and instantly turns a handful of the military's most experienced test pilots into celebrities. These individuals, who come to be known as the Mercury Seven, are forged into heroes long before they have accomplished a single heroic act. The country's best engineers estimate that it will take them decades to reach space. They get two years. The astronauts' strengths are matched only by their flaws. As the men succumb to the temptations that surround them, Project Mercury threatens to fall apart.