ABILENE, Kan. - The first film in the "Eisenhower: Agent of Change" Film Series will be shown in the Visitors Center Auditorium at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum. "The Right Stuff" is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19.

"The Right Stuff" is based on the history of the U.S. Space program. It covers the breaking of the sound barrier by Chuck Yeager to the Mercury 7 astronauts. 

President Eisenhower signed the bill establishing National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) on July 29, 1958. Project Mercury was initiated in 1958 and started NASA down the path of human space exploration with missions designed to discover if man could survive in space. Representatives from the U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force were selected to provide assistance to NASA.  

On May 5, 1961, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first American in space when he piloted Freedom 7 on a 15-minute suborbital flight. Courtesy of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, Kan., a full-size replica of the Freedom 7 capsule is on display in the "Agent of Change" exhibit. 

The "Eisenhower: Agent of Change" exhibit and programming is made possible thanks to the generous donations by the Hall Family Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., and Robert M. Beren Foundation Inc. of Wichita. If you would like to make a donation to the Eisenhower Foundation, please visit the online donation page at  www.dwightdeisenhower.com. 

The program is free and open to the public. RSVPs are appreciated and can be made on Facebook or by calling 877.RING.IKE.