1995 Reunion of the Mercury 13 Women
It took far too long actually. Maybe about 40 YEARS!
ALMOST ASTRONAUTS: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream made me become very disappointing with NASA. I am a NASA junkie, and a proud one at that, but to be confronted with the fact that NASA in the early 1960s was not advanced enough to see that the women featured in this book could have contributed so much to the Mercury program just crushes me. Russia beat the U.S. in that race, too, when they sent Valentina Tereshkova into space on June 16, 1963!! Why didn't I hear about that before?!
You will find that gem of a fact and so many others in Almost Astronauts. Most facts will tend to deflate my fellow womenfolk and me. It was written by Tanya Lee Stone and has a forward by Margaret A. Weitekamp, Curator of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. Check out Tanya's website: http://www.tanyastone.com/index.php?id=40#mce_temp_url#
The book reveals that all-out discrimination was the culprit facing these women. All 13 women risked much in the social arena and were put through rigorous testing. They not only passed but surpassed what their male counterparts had endured. After much opposition to be even considered as candidates to compete for astronaut spots, the women were granted a special subcommittee hearing on the topic of astronaut qualification. John Glenn agreed to speak on behalf of NASA and it was quite irritating to me to read one of his statements: "I think this gets back to the way our social order is organized, really...The fact that women are no in this field is a fact of our social order." He meant to say, "It's just the way it is - women do not belong." He and all of the other Mercury 7 men were quite opposed to women in space. All is summed up in the chapter titled: "NASA Never Had any Intention of Putting Those Women in Space."
But all was not lost! If it were not for those pioneering women, we would not have had Sally Ride, Eileen Collins, and a host of other women exploring space. Not only have women won a prominent place in space exploration, but they have paved the way for other minorities to join their ranks! Thank you Jerrie, Jane, "K", "B", Jan, Marion, Wally, Sarah, Jean, Rhea, Irene, Jerri, and Gene Nora!!
Now, when does my husband return home today? I have a few words for him...Oh, excuse me, am I discriminating?
Space is so interesting to me. I always tell my students that I want to be an astronaut when I grow up! I need to read this book. It is on my list of things that I want to read.
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