Cocoa Beach, Florida was a small Baptist town before becoming the headquarters for missile testing during the Cold War. It grew into a boom town to support the Space program but lacked amenities for families. The astronauts' long work hours and the tradition of not bringing wives to the Cape made family life difficult. Jim Rathmann, a car dealer who befriended the astronauts, convinced the president of Chevrolet to provide each astronaut with a new car each year, mostly Corvettes that the astronauts raced along the beaches.

1. The Right Stuff VII. The Cape

2. Cocoa Beach “[It] was so Low Rent that nothing on this earth could ever change it.” (page 127)

3. Where was the headquarters of the Atlantic Missile Range for the testing of the weaponry of the Cold War? Patrick AFB Rocket garden in front of the Air Force Technical Applications Center, circa 1960's

4. “The tradition was: the Cape is off limit to wives.” (pg. 129) Not a good place for wives & children No kitchen facilities in the motels No beach resort amenities None of the astronauts could afford plane fares for family trips to Florida Astronauts’ training hours were very long, sometimes 10-12 hrs a day

5. Who owned the Chevrolet Cadillac dealership in Melbourne, Florida and befriended Gus Grissom, Gordon Cooper, and Alan Shepard? Jim Rathmann

6. What is Jim Rathmann best known for? For winning the Indianapolis 500 in 1960 after having finished second three times

8. Cocoa Beach “Before the missiles came to the Cape, Cocoa Beach was a hard-shelled Baptist stronghold with more churches than gasoline stations…. But the new Cocoa Beach, the Project Mercury boom town, was part of the new face of the 1960’s…” (page 133)

9. 1950s - The AstroCraft Motel - an indication of the impact of the Space industry on Cocoa Beach

10. Jim Rathmann was friends with Ed Cole. Who was he? The president of Chevrolet at the time

11. What did Jim Rathmann convince Ed Cole to do? He convinced Ed Cole to setup a program which supplied each astronaut with a pair of new cars each year.

12. Most chose a family car for their wives and a Corvette for themselves. Alan Shepard recalls Corvettes lined up in the parking lot outside the astronaut offices at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, and friendly races between Sheppard and Grissom along the Florida beach roads.

13. Astronaut Alan Shepard's Corvette on display at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex

14. DEFINITION OF A SPORTS CAR: A HEDGE AGAINST THE MALE MENOPAUSE.