Customer Reviews

The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight

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I am an admirer of this fascinatingly readable, lucid and scholarly book, with some very interesting stories of intriguing people. However I found a much superior assessment of the "Mercury 13" program in Burgess and French's book Into That Silent Sea: Trailblazers of the Space Era, 1961-1965 (Outward Odyssey: A People's History of S). In one extraordinary chapter, they capture the true cultural, historical and social context of this program far better than this entire book-length treatment. They also contrast the Soviet women in space program against American efforts far better.

Nevertheless, I would still recommend this book as a very interesting read into a fascinating time in American history, and congratulate the author on her impressive research, including the fullest personal interviewing with the original candidates ever undertaken.

Whether you're a fan of America's space program or simply in need of a great read, do yourself a favor and invest in this book.

A little over forty years ago -- when our first astronauts were flying high and America was racing the Soviets for space dominance -- a group of two dozen women signed on to take the same tests and training program as the fabled Mercury 7 (John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, etc). These tests were outlined by Tom Wolfe in THE RIGHT STUFF, and have gone down in historical lore as punishing and exacting, but they are nothing compared to what happened to the women next.

Martha Ackmann's breezy prose and ironic wit are on display here, and she handles the story of these heroic women in an engaging, unbiased way that practically makes the book turn its own pages. I couldn't put it down, and neither will you. Highly recommended.

Here's a book that has potential to fuel a few debates. Written by Martha Ackmann, a professor of Women's Studies at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, the topic hits an unexpected intersection of interests: Early days of manned space flight at NASA, and women's rights.

Most readers won't have heard of The Mercury 13, an unofficial group of stalwart women airplane pilots, all tested for potential to become astronauts by the private Lovelace Foundation at the dawn of the space race. While national focus lasered on Alan Shepherd, John Glenn, and the rest of the famous and flamboyant Mercury 7 astronauts who flew the first orbital missions, Jerrie Cobb and her compatriot lady flyers quietly matched, and sometimes surpassed, the test results of the male heros. Accomplished flyers, and businesswomen, the individuals of this group held many aeronautical records and won many air derbys. Some were graduates of the WAC programs of the Second World War, spearheaded by Jackie Cochran. Ackmann paints vivid portraits of each potential astronaut-candidate, and one can easily like these devoted flyers. (Interestingly, the author focuses heavily on the self-destructive political infighting between Cochran and Cobb for leadership of the women-in-space program.)

It's fascinating to "uncover" this group some forty years later. Who knew? Beyond a few publicity shots that appeared in Life magazine and in hometown papers, the women were hidden, unsanctioned as an official group of any kind, almost a curiosity. Yet, many points raised by Professor Ackmann are provocative: Women weighed less than male counterparts - and would require less rocket fuel; and why was there a requirement of jet-flying experience for astronauts when many animals (female, no less!) were sent aloft in the space capsules.

So where's the argument? Clearly, Ackmann launches this retrospective on the women-in-space efforts with the intention of demonstrating blatant sexism and its negative effects. Viewed through the lens of post-feminism, one clearly sees malfeasance - from President Johnson who nixes any further testing, to a Neanderthal congressman who jokes about the need for women in space for reproductive purposes to colonize planets. Yet, a young and innocent John Glenn just can't see beyond what he and America know as the social norms of the times. In 1963, the nation was a decade away from any kind of equal opportunity awareness, and perhaps two decades away from the emergence of political correctness. Were the male leaders of the space program worried about protecting an existing social order, or just worried about beating the Russians to the moon? Therein, the debate. (Enjoy it - far better for you to argue this with your spouse than waste another hour on Reality TV.)

Here is the story of 13 heroic women who were willing to risk it all for the unattainable dream of spaceflight. Their story is one of striking courage and resilience. As a 14 year old girl, I am proud to call the Mercury 13 my heroes!

Research, research, research...

Ms. Ackmann has really done her homework on all the players involved in the Mercury 13 or FLAT (First Lady Astronaut Trainee) program. She did extensive personal interviewing with the surviving women of the program, and it shows.

Her writing gets you "into" the story and you won't want to put it down.
A classic example of truth being stranger than fiction. Now that we have the luxury of time to look back on these events, besides blaming the social conditions of the times, possibly this book can now serve as a benchmark of lessons learned and hopefully not to be repeated.

Highly recommend for every parent of girls and boys. Read it to your kids, and help them understand what happened.

Check this book out, now.

As an archive Librarian I have a great appreciation for the work that went into this book. It is a GREAT READ! And you won't be disappointed.

Remember....all others came after this one.

Enjoy!

As a young boy when President Kennedy promised we would land a man on the moon, I found myself awed, inspired,and thrilled by those early Mercury astronauts who brought being anAmerican to life for children ofmy age and generation. Reading this book so many years later, describingthe heroic women who shared the aspiration to reach for the stars themselves, I feel just as thrilled, awed and inspired by their dream and their efforts to pursue it. This isa wonderful book written with passion, humor, and love about women who daredto dream, who battled a system that was not quite ready to bring equality to the planets, but who persevered nonetheless. Who needs reality television? Read this book for true life stories of some of the bravest and most talented and ambitious pilots who ever soared into the skies. Read about their exploits, their achievements, the missions they accomplished and thetests they surpassed. It is true, you will also read about politicians who couldn't go the last mile to accept their highest aspiration, and bureaucrats too slow-witted to rise above the limits of those times. But in the end, this is a quintessentially American story about real American heroes, who embodied the ideals that make reaching into space an expression of our daring, imagination, courage and vision. These women had The Right Stuff, and while they did not reach their ultimate dream of walking on the moon, their great triumph was not merely in their great achievements throughout their careers, which were enormous. Their truest triumph was that their pioneering spirit and courage not only advanced the cause of other women who are making those journeys today, but advanced the cause of a grateful nation, men and women alike, who, like me, will stand and salute the spirit described in this wonderful and magisterial book.

Well, hooray! This is a great story of 13 pioneering woman and their efforts to enter America's early space program. This story needed to be written because I was alive then and I witnessed the attitude of our jackass astronauts toward women first hand. If you only knew whaat was going on, you would be shocked. This book is too mild for me. I can tell you this, there were two astronauts testifying before a Congressional house committee in 1962. I have pictures. They were rude, sarcastic and very nasty. Jacqueline Cochran made an appearance and was rudely treated. I was 18 years old. Ms. Cochran left abruptly.

I have the exact date and if someone looked up the Congressional Record, a U.S. Senator would be very embarassed. These 13 women tried very hard to become astronauts. But they were fighting the worse prejudice imanginable. I was there, I know what happened. They were the "token women."

They tried very hard but of course, they never made it.
It took nearly 40 years before women were accepted in our Space Program. I applaud the authors. You told the real story except for the jerks.

Very well researched and interesting to read as NASA tries to get back on track. True stories of inspiring women ahead of their time (and the men who made an effort to boost their accomplishments).

The book came before the time I wanted it by and it was in great condition. It's a great book.

I really enjoyed this book, even though I am not all that interested in history or aerospace. You really come away with an understanding of what it took for these women to become pilots and try to become astronauts. They all played a big part in getting equal treatment for women in jobs today. It is an interesting and educational read... buy it!