During a long sequence involving medical evaluations of potential astronauts, some of the candidates are seen in hospital gowns to a comic effect.

A scene involves two main characters being required to produced semen samples for a medical evaluation. (Nothing is shown).

The renowned fan dancer Sally Rand, who famously performed at the 1933 World's Fair in Chicago, is depicted appearing over 30 years later at a Texas celebration for the Mercury astronauts. In her performance, generally seen from some distance in low lighting, she covers herself only with large fans of ostrich feathers and occasionally her butt is shown.

The film contains occasional brief innuendos.

Some fatal crashes of test pilots in experimental planes are discussed and occasionally depicted from a distance.

No graphic violence shown, but several violent explosions (some life-taking) are displayed at a distance. A needle deeply pierces a man's hand during an intense medical test. A man is shown with a severely burned face, with some blood and blistering, after surviving a plane crash; it is clear that he is otherwise unharmed, as he is walking vigorously.

4 uses of "shit", 3 uses of "damn", 1 use of "bastard", 8 uses of "hell", 2 uses of "ass", 1 use of "Jesus", 2 uses of "Screw", 1 use of "goddamn", 1 use of "asshole", 1 use of "thank God", 1 use of "prick".

5 instances of the F word. If this movie were made today, it would most likely be Rated R.

Smoking and drinking (including beer and hard liquor) at casual social events or in bars is common throughout the film, which is set between the late 1940s and early 1960s.

Two men are depicted vomiting from seasickness on an aircraft carrier in a turbulent ocean.

A bar is seen burning down, and two characters later walk through the wreckage.

A man suffers broken ribs during a horseback riding accident.

An astronaut urinates in his spacesuit out of necessity prior to a spaceflight.

As a movie about astronauts and test pilots, the movie contains many intense scenes, usually involving life-threatening situations in planes or spacecraft. Other intense situations depict the rigorous and painful tests and trainings the would-be astronauts experience. A bar in the desert, featured in several scenes, has a memorial wall displaying photos of dozens of military pilots who have been killed in crashes.