The magnificent seven

The incredible story of the Mercury Seven astronauts

- JUDY EWENS, SEAN MARLAND

As the Cold War reached its height in the late 1950s, America and the Soviet Union were locked in a fierce battle to be the first country to put a man into space.

It was a struggle that encapsulated the hopes and dreams of two proud nations, but after the Soviets launched the unmanned satellite Sputnik in 1957, America was racing to catch up.

Less than a year later, NASA was founded and Disney+’s spectacular new series The Right Stuff tells the story of Project Mercury and the seven pilots who were selected to be America’s first-ever astronauts.

‘There was enormous pressure on the project,’ says