Why Female Astronauts Never Made It to Space in the 1960s
Eugenicists and misogynists alike have long derided women as the weaker sex based on their delicate size in proportion to men. In 1960, however, Dr. Randolph Lovelace, Chairman of NASA's Special Advisory Committee on Life Sciences, and his team of forward-thinking scientists, convinced higher-ups at NASA to think less like generals and more like choreographers in terms of women's superiority as candidates for space travel, due to their generally smaller stature. Lovelace's reasoning was that women would make better astronauts because they require less oxygen, have a lower risk of heart or respiratory failure, can withstand longer amounts of time in sensory deprivation simulations, are more flexible, were proven to perform better in cramped spaces, and would require less fuel to propel the same distance because of their lighter weight.
Women were both behind the scenes and at the forefront of the short-lived Women in Space Program, which ran from 1959 to 1961. Jackie Cochran, a famous female pilot who was the first woman to break the sound barrier and set a plethora of other flight records in the 1930s, was the main sponsor of Lovelace's privately-funded fight to prove that, "certain qualities of the female space pilot are preferable to her male colleague." This included extensive physical and psychological testing, which women like Jerrie Cobb, another revered female pilot, were put through to prove that they were equal to men, including every test the seven male astronauts of Mercury mission underwent. 13 of the 19 women passed all the tests, in comparison to only 18 of the 32 to men who were tested. News of the women's success in surviving simulations of space-related stress, such as a gyroscope that spun the female who was seated in the center on three axes at once for 45 minutes, generated media attention despite a lack of official backing from NASA. Jerry Cobb was named by Life as one of the "100 Most Important People of 1959", and featured in an extensive photo essay in the same magazine the following year.
Unfortunately, the program was not to last. As Wired points out, the women in the program "were ultimately held to a different standard than men," being forced to sit in cold isolation tanks for much longer than John Glenn, according to the famous male astronaut's memoirs. The article highlights the preposterous thoughts of some NASA officials, who thought that "female performance could be impaired by menstruation." According to the Advances in Physiology Education article, these were just some of the reasons behind the program's ultimate cancellation in 1961.
Alas, the U.S.S.R. successfully sent Valentina Tereshkova into space in 1963, effectively ending any 'space race' motivation behind getting American female astronauts into space, and keeping them grounded until Sally Ride joined the crew of the Space Shuttle Challenger a full two decades later. [From: Advances in Physiology Education, via Wired]
[Ed. note: Title should have been 'Why Female Astronauts Never Made It to Space in the 1960s.' Thanks to all the commenters who pointed that out.]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
dido248834 said 7:11AM on 10-14-2009
do anyone other than spammers still bother to post here?
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Rob said 7:13AM on 10-14-2009
Thats astonishing! I never knew the womens program existed. I was in the AirForce Junior Reserved Officers Training corps from 1981-1985 in Highschool. We studied everything about aerospace and the space program and things like Capt. Charles E. Yeager who was the first man to break the sound barrier.
Those dumb NASA higher up's, men who held women to a different standard represents the epitimy and turth of sexual discrimination in our country back then.
Thats a shame, theirs no telling how different the space program would have been if women were allowed to fully participate in space over 40 years ago.
Rob
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Rob said 7:38AM on 10-14-2009
Thats interesting and sad!.
I was in the Airforce Junior Reserved Officers Training Corps in high school. We studdied everything about areospace for the four years I was in the program such as Capt. Charles E. Yeager who was the first man to break the sound barrier. We watched videos of the different space missions. Never once did we study about and women in the program. What a sexist side of the men in the higher up men in the program. Probably even the astronauts themselves were to proud to be out done by a woman.
That shows the real epitome of sexual discrimination holding the women to a different standard. Theirs no telling how the space program may have advanced had they actually involved the women in the program properly.
Rob
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roushka said 7:59AM on 10-14-2009
I was also in Air Force Jr ROTC while in high school back in the 70s, but our instructor, a retired AF sargeant named Suchan (sp? it's been 30+ years), made darn sure we knew about the female pilots and not just Amelia Earhart, as well as recounting the first female astronauts. He was a firm believer that the military and space program needed both genders to be a "complete" service, noting that both sexes brought strengths the other might lack. He didn't believe women should be in combat (my Army MP daughter would firmly and respectfully disagree!) except as fighter and bomber pilots (no contact with the enemy, but he said they had better aim than a lot of guys!), but he was never disrespectful of women's contributions to the military, reminding the guys in class that they filled jobs that freed up men for combat - he was a WWII and Korean War vet himself, and was crew chief for "Pappy" Boyington while in the Army Air Corps (the tales he told...the Black Sheep Squandron, popular at the time, didn't come close to the hell raiser that man was), noting that women did a lot of jobs during WWII that were absolutely vital to victory. He cheered when women were permitted to join the military academies and was instrumental in getting a good friend of mine into AFA and later, into NASA, as one of the first "real" female astronauts!
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ceduran5 said 8:01AM on 10-14-2009
Someon remove those first five comments, thats rediculas.
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casatropical7 said 1:37PM on 10-14-2009
The only "rediculas" here are you.
tana green said 4:22PM on 10-14-2009
But at least someon removed them.
Ron said 8:17AM on 10-14-2009
I can name on less that one finger the number of people who DID make it into space in the 1950's !!
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wncrod said 9:30AM on 10-14-2009
Yeah. What's up with that headline?
tana green said 3:52PM on 10-14-2009
The headline says 60s. Learn to read.
Candace said 8:21AM on 10-14-2009
Damn Period!
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pdog79764 said 8:43AM on 10-14-2009
more like damn MEN!!!
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Mavis said 8:49AM on 10-14-2009
Candace it think it is Damn. Any woman who thinks that this is old news, isn't paying attention. The boys get soccer, girls get dance. There is no equilivent to Fat Chicks. Or Dog. Maybe in the next century.
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NanaSpeaks said 8:50AM on 10-14-2009
It's mans perception of women in a job that is dominated by men. In most working environments, men are slower to make change than women. Without the classes required by most large corporations to introduce changes, everything would still be like it was in the '50's. There are a few women who manage to get promoted to positions of management but, as I've seen this often, they are usually the 'token.' They may think they 'earned' their way to the top and some of them have but, they would've gotten there sooner had their company not been gender-biased.
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mtrronan said 1:57PM on 10-14-2009
i very very seldom post but in this case i just had too on one hand yes i do agree as for the "token " i was passed over for promotion more than once becouse of that but in thoes case's each and everytime them women came running to me to ask me how to do this or that to which my reply would be well your the one that got the promotion deal with it and after watching them struggle for a few i would step in and help them now for the one's that have earned it them are the ones i really enjoyed working under they do know there stuff as far as what NASA did well that was there lose as it was ours
Joe said 8:50AM on 10-14-2009
That reason they gave is nothing but garbage of why women weren't in space a lot sooner. Fact is, it took NASA that long to find a woman who wouldn't take up every second of "air time" on the radios! All the other women before always thought they were talking on the phone! No you know the REAL of the story... : )
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NanaSpeaks said 8:54AM on 10-14-2009
This is an old wives tale perpetuated by men who refuse to acknowledge they gossip more than women.
joe said 9:01AM on 10-14-2009
Well, I would happen to think there is something to it. I even bet you really believe it as well, I mean you even put it in your screen name for crying out loud! lol : )
NanaSpeaks said 9:15AM on 10-14-2009
Tch tch, that's Speaks as in speaking. Meaning, speaking on concerns for grandchildren after divorce, death, etc.
Laura said 4:39PM on 10-15-2009
Please note, Nicholas Emler, BSc(S'ton) MA(Oxf) PhD(Lond) FBPsS CPsychol,
Professor at the University of Surrey, England, states that you are incorrect. Look up his groundbreaking research into gossip and social structure, and you will find that men who gossip outnumber women who gossip by an order of two to one. The research also shows that 80 percent of our conversations are spent on discussing other people and their habits, regardless of gender.
So, I'm afraid your position doesn't hold water.