History Series / TheRightStuff

* AdaptationalJerkass: The historical Glenn did write a letter to Gilruth protesting the peer assessment way She[ard was chosen - but never stopped to the letter-writing campaign seen here. By all accounts, once the decision was made Glenn threw himself into providing effective support for the mission.

* TruthInTelevision:
** A throwaway line has Gordo talking about seeing [=UFO=]s. In real life, Cooper was famous for being the astronaut who talked openly about the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
** The original book (as well as Glenn's autobiography) remained tight-lipped on the identity of the teammate whose indiscretions he'd had to cover up. However, the 2004 biography of Shepard (''Light This Candle'') would confirm that, as here, it was him who'd been caught.
** It didn't quite happen the way it did onscreen, but Scott Carpenter really was replaced as Capcom for Shepard's flight after concerns were raised about his understanding of the procedures - though in real life it was Kraft, not Shepard, who raised them. Carpenter would eventually become Capcom for Glenn's historic orbital flight the following year.

* Misblamed: After Glenn lets on that he'd had to contact Shorty Powers in getting a newspaper report on Shepard's indiscretions killed, a furious Shepard accuses him of intentionally letting NASA find out to improve his chances. In reality, Glenn had been genuinely trying to help, and only went to Powers after failing to contact the newspaper head any other way.

* The gun scene in episode 4 was based on a real incident, but nothing like [[RuleOfDrama as dramatic as here]]. After the rocket failed, it was proposed by Von Braun's deputy Kurt Debus as a potential solution, but was rapidly shot down via radio when everyone realised how insane it would be.

* AdaptationJerkass: The historical Glenn did write a letter to Gilruth protesting the peer assessment way She[ard was chosen - but never stopped to the letter-writing campaign seen here. By all accounts, once the decision was made Glenn threw himself into providing effective support for the mission.

* TruthInTelevision: A throwaway line has Gordo talking about seeing [=UFO=]s. In real life, Cooper was famous for being the astronaut who talked openly about the possibility of extraterrestrial life

** Glenn and Shepard are this to each other. Glenn is a dedicated family man while Shepard is TheCasanova who cheats on his wife. Glenn is image conscious and very confident at all times. Shepard lacks discretion and has a lot of self doubt when it comes to matters not involving flying or picking up women. Glenn comes of as a politician while Shepard comes of flawed but honest.

** John Glenn develops into this in his pursuit to be the first man in space. Everyone respects him as a professional but he rarely socializes with the other astronauts outside of work. Everything he does seems to have a self-serving undertone (even when he doesn't intend it to) and even his wife calls him out for going too far.

** When Glynn Lunney first meets Kraft and Gilruth, Kraft outright states that the empty room with just the three of them in it is NASA. In truth, as an evolution of the previous NACA, NASA had over 8000 employees by this point, as well as three major research facilities and numerous smaller areas under their control.

* DeskJockey: As the series begins both John Glenn and Alan Shepard are facing the prospect of being relegated to desk jobs. Glenn is 34 years old and deemed to be getting too old for a test pilot. Shepard was deemed too reckless and KickedUpstairs to a supervisory position where he was promoted but gets little flying time. It is lampshaded that both men would excel at any non-flying job they are given but they would not be personally satisfied with it.

* HighTurnoverRate: Kraft and Gilruth lampshade the fact that military test pilots do not tend to have long careers. When they are given a list of the top test pilots in the US Armed Forces, they point out that the list is out of date. Test pilots have a professional "quirk" of getting killed and they can spot how old the list is by how many people on it are now deceased. Glenn, Shepard and Cooper were about to fall off the list for various no-fatal reasons. Glenn was about to age out, Shepard was KickedUpstairs and Cooper wanted to quit after he witnessed the death of a fellow pilot.

* JerkassBall: Glenn grabs it pretty hard after Shepard (completely unjustly) accuses him of undermining him by letting NASA know about a story of his indiscretions. Once he realises that he could still be first in space if Shepard (the top pick to be first in space) is removed from the flight, he sarts a letter campaign too get Shepard removed - which ends up both almightily pissing off Shepard and Gilruth and alienating his own wife.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Shepard can only smirk and chuckle when Glynn Lunney rants to Kraft that televising the launch could turn failure into the most expensive funeral in the history of TV.

* GutturalGrowler: Gus Grissom has a very low, gravely voice that really helps him stand out despite not getting much focus.
* HappilyMarried: John and Annie Glenn are shown to be utterly devoted to one another.

* BrokenAce: Gordo is just as talented a pilot as the others, but has a rotten home life. He's separated from his wife, has a tendency to seriously overdo it when drinking and has serious survivor's guilt from an incident where his wingman crashed and died during a test flight.

* TruthInTelevision: A throwaway line has Gordo talking about seeing UFOs. In real life, Cooper was famous for being the astronaut who talked openly about the possibility of extraterrestrial life

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Deke Slayton develops heart arrhythmia and is grounded from the space program. The series shows it happening in early 1961 before Shepard's mission. Slayton was actually grounded in 1962 after Glenn's mission and only two months before Slayton's own mission.

** Chris Kraft and Robert Gilruth talk about how vital it is for an American to reach space before a Russian. Despite NASA's efforts, Yuri Gargarin would become the first man in space.

** John Glenn develops into this in his pursuit to be the first man in space. Everyone respects him as a professional but he rarely socializes with the other astronauts outside of work. Everything he does seems to have a self-serving undertone and even his wife call him out for going too far.

** Subverted with Deke Slayton who lost a ring finger in a farm accident as a child. That finger is deemed non-essential for a pilot and he was accepted for pilot training. He was later diagnosed with heart arrhythmia but it was not deemed serious to ground him. It was then double-subverted when NASA changes its mind and grounds him due to the arrhythmia after all. [[note]]Slayton was the only one of the Mercury Seven who did not go into space on a Gemini mission. He was medically cleared in 1972 and finally went into space in 1975 as part of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project. [[/note]]

* TheAce: All the Mercury Seven astronauts are amazing pilots but John Glen and Alan Shepard are in a league of their own.

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: Deke Slayton develops heart arrhythmia and is grounded from the space program. The series shows it happening in early 1961 before Sheppard's mission. Slayton was actually grounded in 1962 after Glenn's mission and only two months before Slayton's own mission.

** Sheppard gets Carpenter removed from his position in Mission Control which gets Carpenter really angry. When he tries to find an ally in Glenn, Glenn agrees with Shepard. Shepard was undiplomatic in the way he handled the situation but Carpenter made too many critical mistakes that could endanger the mission.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Glenn tries to get Sheppard disqualified from the space program for petty reasons. Sheppard should have been disqualified because his medical condition made it dangerous for him to fly.

* WhatTheHellHero: Glenn is on the receiving end of a number of these as he starts going further and further in trying to secure the "first man in space" role for himself. He gets an undeserved one from Sheppard for informing NASA of a scandal involving Sheppard which triggers him to actively start campaigning against Sheppard. His wife gives him a short speech when she discovers the letters he is planning to send out and gives him the cold shoulder when he disregards her advice. Gilruth then comes in furious that Glenn's actions are jeopardizing the space program itself and tells him exactly what he thinks of him.

It debuted on Disney+ on October 9, 2020.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Gus Grissom is not a fan of Gordon Cooper. When Gus gets tired of Gordon's stories, he tell his own Gordon Cooper story. They flew a test flight together and Cooper told Grissom that he completed the pre-flight check of the plane. The flight crashed on takeoff and it was a miracle that both men did no burn to death. Turns out Cooper was CuttingCorners and never did the pre-flight check. Cooper laughed the incident off while Grissom never forgave him for nearly getting him killed.

* WhatTheHellHero: Glenn is on the receiving end of a number of these as he starts going further and further in trying to secure the "first man in space" role for himself. He gets an undeserved one from Sheppard for informing NASA of a scandal involving Sheppard which triggers him to actively start campaigning against Sheppard. His wife gives him a short speech when she discovers the letters he is planning to send out and gives him the cold shoulder when he disregards her advice. Gilruth then comes in furious that Glenn's actions are jeopardizing the space program itself and tells him exactly what he thinks of him.
* YourCheatingHeart:
** Alan Shepard is married but cheats on his wife constantly. Although he's cavalier about it public, he's very touchy when it gets brought up in private.
*** This actually causes some trouble in Episode 5, when [[spoiler: some reporters catch him with one of his flings and John has to fix the damage.]]
** Gordon Cooper had an affair with a fellow pilot's wife. It wrecked both marriages and even after reconciling with Gordon, Trudy Cooper has a hard time trusting him.

* GracefulLoser: Despite his inner struggles and conflicts with Shepard, John proves to be this when Alan goes to space.[[note]] John does end up getting his own historical first in 1963, though, becoming the first American man in orbit[[/note]]

* JerkassHasAPoint: Wernher von Braun is pretty vocal in his dislike of the way NASA does things and rubs a lot of people the wrong way but he is not always wrong. NASA still has not figured a lot of things out and they are amateurs learning on the job.

** John Glenn is first shown in his Marine uniform addressing a newstand attendant by name and having his picture displayed on the cover of a magazine. He declines the offer of a free magazine copy and instead pays extra so the attendant can have his own copy. We then cut to a colleague reading from the magazine and Glenn getting angry because the writer described him as being too old. Glenn then gives a speech about he wants to be the first man in space because it would secure his place in history. Glenn is NiceToTheWaiter but also a Gloryhound.

** -->'''Glenn (to Annie):''' It's like you said in Cocoa, it's easier now that people know. Al went to space and I didn't, so what?

* EveryManHasHisPrice: This is lampshaded and addressd early on. The astronauts are all dedicated patriots but they are also family men trying to support a family on a military pilot's salary. While the possibility of espionage is not considered, NASA is worried that the astronauts might be tempted to sell their stories to newspapers or otherwise engage in business deals that could embarrass the space program. The solution is to cut a deal with Life Magazine. Life gets exclusive access to the astronauts and their families and the astronauts get a hefty payday as long as they behave appropriately.

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Glenn tries to get Sheppard disqualified from the space program for selfish reasons. Sheppard should have been disqualified because his medical condition made it dangerous for him to fly.