posted 12-30-2001 04:27 PM               

The Russians were the first to put women in a spacecraft; Valentina TERESHKOVA in Vostok 6 in June 1963 and Svetlana SAVITSKAYA in Soyuz T-7 & Soyuz T-12 respectively in August 1982 & July 1984 ...
On Western side, we're all familiar with Female crewmembers since the Space Shuttle era ( Sally RIDE first US woman in space, ... )

NASA did test FEMALE candidate-astronauts for the MERCURY program !!!
As we all know the male "Mercury 7" group ... many of us never heard of the "Mercury 13" group, a group of 13 (military) women who were put at the same gruelling medical tests as their male counterparts ... The female candidates often scored far better in several tests!
Female Colonel Wally FUNK was the first Female to pass all the test ... However, American Congress disallowed these women to start their flying training in military jets, putting them in a 'catch-22' situation ... Many of the "Mercury 13" group gathered 2 years ago at the Launch of STS-93, on which Female US Air Force Colonel Eileen COLLINS was the first female commander !
These women are not to be confused with Mademoiselle Dee o'Hara who was America's first aerospace nurse!

posted 12-30-2001 04:52 PM               

They were volunteers for a set of a similar physiological tests, conducted at the same clinic, as the seven men selected for Project Mercury. And while it is true, that several of the women tested better than their counterpart males, never was a spaceflight even an option.

The decision to accept flight test pilots (and therefore all but exclusing female astronauts) was made by Eisenhower, who felt that they were the perfect example for America's astronaut corps. This decision affected more than just the Mercury 13, but also engineers, scientists, etc. who could have also been considered to fly.

posted 12-30-2001 09:40 PM               

Youre both pretty much correct. One of the best sources out there is the website Dana Holland and I put together:
http://www.mercury13.com

Two clarifications, first they did the same exact pysical acceptance tests the astro candidates did, and from a pool of approx. 50 females were whittled down to the remaining 13. Jerrie Cobb of course, did the most testing and the best overall.

And, Wally Funk is not a Colonel - never served inany military.

Also no thy did not test DIRECTLY under NASA auspices but it was an agreement from the Lovelace Clinic and NASA that promulgated this testing. No DIRECT promises were made, but they were told that if they succesfully completed the testing they would receive the same consideration. They did not, and after a protracted battle in Congress lost that battle as well.

Jerrie Cobb's website is down for now, but hopefully I can get it back up soon.
http://www.jerrie-cobb.com

Jerrie Cobb wrote a book back in the 1960's (I just dont have my copy in front of me) thats pretty good at explaining what they did, the book "Amelia Earharts Daughters" is pretty good, as is B Stedmans book "Tethered Mercury". Links off the Mercury 13 site expain how to obtain B's book, or go to:
http://www.tetheredmercury.com

Also, Jerrie Cobb wrote a later book thats available from her foundation, signed of course. You can either write to the foundation or when I get her site back up it will have the info.

Best,

Al

posted 01-06-2002 01:52 PM               

When we were building the National Space Centre in Leicester UK, we made two interesting decisions. One was to include a display about the stratospheric balloonists, and the other was the Mercury 13.

We worked with a lady who had recently interviewed many of the 13, and who had also been to the Lovelace clinic and obtained many many photos. She herself took wonderful portrait shots of those of the 13 that she could now, and the whole ended up as a display at a gallery in London. We used transcripts of her interviews, plus her photos and in the display we ended up with, you can hear an absolutely fabulous interview with Jerry Truehill where she really lays it on the line about how they were treated. She goes into some interesting detail about the battle in congress and whilst we don't actually have this bit playing 'cause we felt we should edit it out....she comments that one particular Mercury astronaut said that women were 95lbs of recreational equipment.....<grin>

But the most powerful part of the display that our visitors react to is the profile shots taken at the time. The women were photographed in the same way as the men, side on head only shots, and in colour. We have 14 of them surrounding the display, the one man is ofcourse John Glenn.

For many this reinforces the fact that they went through exactly the same processes, and had every expectation of flight, until the social attitudes at the time prevailed. You see, if a man died in the conquest of space, he's a hero and its one of those things. But if a woman got killed, well, it would have been a different kettle of fish - in the 1960's....

If anyone is interested in the archive pictures from the lovelace clinic, drop me an email and I'll put you in touch with the lady we worked with.

posted 01-06-2002 02:16 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by albatron@aol.com:
Jerrie Cobb wrote a book back in the 1960's (I just dont have my copy in front of me) thats pretty good at explaining what they did,

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The book title is:
Jerrie Cobb with Jane Rieker, Woman into Space: The Jerrie Cobb Story, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New York, 1963, Library of Congress 63-12304

posted 01-07-2002 12:09 AM               

I think its interesting you have the mans picture with them who referred to them as recreation eequipment too. <G>

Best,