Although she was never allowed to go into space, Jerri Cobb passed the same physical and psychological fitness testing regimen as the Mercury Astronaut Selection Tests with flying colors. She helped recruit 25 other qualified women pilots, of whom twelve passed the first series of tests, creating the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs), also known as the Mercury 13.
None of these women ever flew into space, thanks to the prevailing attitudes of the day. Even John Glenn testified before congress that "men go off and fight the wars and fly the airplanes," and women are not astronauts because of our social order. It was a devestating blow to those brave women.
In June of 1963, the USSR launched Valentina Tereshkova as the first woman in space. The US didn't follow up until Sally Ride launched aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983.
Read more about Jerri Cobb.
Image Credit (Jerrie Cobb, Lady Pilot, testing Gimbal Rig in AWT):
NASA Headquarters - GReatest Images of NASA (NASA-HQ-GRIN)
- Related Resource: Mercury 13
- Related Resource: Valentina Tereshkova
- Related Resource: Sally Ride
See What's Happening
Today in the News
- ABC News (USA): Can Earth Dodge Asteroid Heading This Way
- CBS News: No MOney to Stop All Killer Asteroids
- MSNBC: Some Fear Iran's Space Program Hostile
See What Happened
Today in History
Comments