I don't want anything to put this program in a bad light. I mean, we've got the...

John Glenn: I don't want anything to put this program in a bad light. I mean, we've got the opportunity of a lifetime and I'm sorry but I am not going to stand by and let other people compromise the whole darn thing. You know and I know this could lead to something very unfortunate. [Unsure which one says this: "What's ticking you off?"] John Glenn: I'm talking about the playing around that's going on. I'm talking about the young girls. I'm talking about the cookies. I'm talking about keeping our pants zipped and our wicks dry around here! Alan Shepard: Mr. Glenn, you are way out of line. I'd advise you not to try and foist your view of morality on anybody else in this group. Each man here has volunteered to do a job. Each man here is devoting long hours of training to prepare for it, and doing many things above and beyond the strict call of duty, such as morale tours of factories... John Glenn: - such as bringing girls up to your room in the middle of the night? Alan Shepard: - and foregoing any semblance of an orderly family life. And Mr. Glenn, as long as a man uses good sense, what he does with his zipper or his wick is his own business! Scott Carpenter: [Comes between Shepard and Glenn] Now hold it just a minute!

...other people compromise the whole darned thing! This could lead to something very unfortunate. What's ticking you off? I'm talking about playing around. I'm talking about the young girls... ...the cookies. About keeping our pants zipped and our wicks dry. Mr. Glenn, you are way out of line. I advise you not to try to foist your moral views... ...on anyone else in this group. Each man here has volunteered to do a job... ...devoting long hours of training... ...and doing things above and beyond the call of duty... ...such as morale tours-- Such as bringing girls up to your room? And forgoing any orderly family life. As long as a man uses good sense... ...what he does with his wick is his own business! I'm from Life magazine. I'm not with these people. You can't go in. They're discussing science. John's right. We're public figures. Whether we deserve it or not, people look up to us. We have a tremendous responsibility. You can't tell a pilot what to do when not flying. Wait a minute. You got it all wrong. The issue here ain't pussy. The issue here is monkey. - What? - Us. We are the monkey. Gus is saying that we're missing the point. Gus is saying... ...we heard they want to send a monkey up first. They're sending a monkey up to do a man's work. Gus is saying... ...they're trying to send a man up to do a monkey's work. Us. A bunch of college-trained chimpanzees. Gus is saying... ...we've got to change things. He's saying that we are pilots. We know more about what we need to fly than anybody else. What we have to do is alter the experiment. It comes down to who is going to control this thing from here on. Gus is saying we've got to stick together. These tests were designed... ...to decondition, to desensitize... ...to adapt out fears.