Awards

• Winner of American Astronautical Society Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award 2004.
• Winner of American Astronautical Society Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award 2005 (United States)
• Winner of American Astronautical Society Eugene M. Emme Astronautical Literature Award 2005.

Overview

On June 17, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Curiously, unlike every previous milestone in the ""space race,"" this event did not spur NASA to catch up by flying an American woman. Though there were suitable candidates-two years earlier, thirteen female pilots recruited by the private Woman in Space program had passed a strenuous physical exam and were ready for another stage of astronaut testing-American women would not escape earth's gravity for another twenty years. In Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, Margaret Weitekamp shows how the Woman in Space program-conceived by Dr. William Randolph Lovelace and funded by world-famous pilot and businesswoman Jacqueline Cochran-challenged prevailing attitudes about women's roles and capabilities. In examining the experiences of the Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees (as the candidates called themselves), this book documents the achievements and frustrated hopes of a remarkable group of women whose desire to serve their country fell victim to hostility toward such aspirations. Drawing from archival research and interviews with participants, Weitekamp traces the rise and fall of the Woman in Space program within the context of the cold war and the thriving women's aviation culture of the 1950s. Weitekamp's study sheds light on a little-known but compelling chapter in the history of the U.S. space program and the rise of the women's movement in America.

Full Product Details

Author:   Margaret A. Weitekamp (Curator, National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Edition:   New edition
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 1.40cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.340kg
ISBN:  

9780801883941

ISBN 10:   0801883946
Pages:   256
Publication Date:   03 February 2006
Recommended Age:   From 17
Audience:   College/higher education ,  General/trade ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  General
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

"Acknowledgments Introduction 1. ""Going to Town for the Men of Science"": Randy Lovelace and Jackie Cochran 2. ""This Buck Rogers Nonsense"": Aviation and Aerospace Medicine 3. WASPs, Whirly-Girls, and Ninety-Nines: Female Pilots and Postwar Women's Aviation 4. ""Should a Girl Be First in Space?"": Betty Skelton, Ruth Nichols, and Jerrie Cobb 5. ""Initial Examinations for Female Astronaut Candidates"": Lovelace's Woman in Space Program 6. ""I Offer Myself—No Less Can I Do"": Jerrie Cobb, NASA, and the Pensacola Cancellation 7. ""A Fact of Our Social Order"": Jerrie Cobb, John Glenn, and the House Subcommittee Hearings 8. ""Send Jerrie into Space"": Several Epilogues to Lovelace's Woman in Space Program Conclusion Notes Essay on Sources Index"

Reviews

What this book does better than its competitors is to uncover and present the political story that killed the space program for women in this country. - Choice Weitekamp's clear prose, engaging style of story-telling, and rich analysis make this not only an important book but a lively and enjoyable read. - H-Minerva, H-Net Reviews The best, most balanced treatment available about the thirteen Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees. - History: Reviews of New Books

Author Information

Margaret A. Weitekamp is curator in the Division of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions