The Right Stuff filming locations: where the movie and series were shot

Both are based on Tom Wolfe's 1979 book about America's early space programme. And both, fittingly, were filmed far from where most of the real events took place.

The 1983 film

Philip Kaufman shot the bulk of the film in and around San Francisco between March and October 1982, with additional work continuing into January 1983. The key locations included:

• Hamilton Air Force Base, Novato, California — this decommissioned base north of San Francisco served as the primary filming location. It was converted into a sound stage for numerous interior sets, including cockpits, briefing rooms, and NASA facilities.
• The Mojave Desert / Edwards Air Force Base, California — the opening sequences depicting test pilots at Muroc Army Air Field (later Edwards AFB) were shot on location in the desert. The production used the actual Old South Base runway where Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier in 1947. An exact replica of Yeager's Bell X-1 rocket plane was built for these scenes.
• California City, California — additional desert filming took place here in early 1983.
• San Francisco's Financial District — the intersection of California and Montgomery Streets doubled for the ticker-tape parade scenes. The Pacific Stock Exchange building on Sansome and Pine Streets stood in for the New York Stock Exchange.
• A San Francisco waterfront warehouse was converted into a full working studio for interior work.

It's worth noting that although much of the real story takes place in Florida (Cape Canaveral) and Virginia (Langley), Kaufman chose to film almost entirely in California.

The 2020 Disney+ series

The eight-episode television series took a completely different approach to locations. Filming took place in Florida, staying much closer to where the actual Mercury programme events unfolded:

• Cape Canaveral, Florida — scenes were filmed near the real launch sites.
• Orlando, Florida — several Orlando neighbourhoods served as stand-ins for 1950s/60s-era residential streets, with period-appropriate cars and props lining the roads. Specific locations included the Bel Air neighbourhood, the Beardall Senior Centre in Lake Cherokee, and Greenwood Cemetery.
• Tampa, Florida — additional filming took place here.

The series was produced by Warner Bros. Television and National Geographic, with Leonardo DiCaprio as one of the executive producers. It was cancelled after one season.