A chronicle of the original Mercury astronauts in the formation of America's space program: Alan Shepherd, the first American in space; Gus Grissom, the benighted astronaut for whom nothing works out as planned; John Glenn, the straight-arrow 'boy scout' of the bunch who was the first American to orbit the earth; and the remaining pilots: Deke Slayton, Scott Carpenter and Wally Schirra.
Elenco: Fred Ward , Dennis Quaid , Ed Harris , Scott Glenn , Sam Shepard , Barbara Hershey , Lance Henriksen , Veronica Cartwright , Harry Shearer , Jeff Goldblum , Kim Stanley , Pamela Reed , Scott Paulin , Charles Frank , Donald Moffat , Levon Helm , Mary Jo Deschanel , Scott Wilson , Kathy Baker , Mickey Crocker , Susan Kase , Mittie Smith , Royal Dano , David Clennon , Jim Haynie , Anthony Munoz , John P. Ryan , William Russ , Mary Apick , John Dehner , David Gulpilil , O-Lan Jones , Chuck Yeager .