Jerrie Cobb, public domain image from Wikipedia.
NPR had a great segment on this morning about women who were secretly trained for the Mercury 13 space flights. Then NASA and Lyndon Johnson stopped them from serving. Five years ago via the Freedom of Information Act it was discovered that the then Vice President delivered the “last nail in the coffin”.
I was so impressed with Jerri Truhill this morning. She described how they became part of the testing program, where tougher than nails, and “came out better than the men did as far as being suited for spaceflight.” You could hear her strong mind and confidence. Such an amazing interview. Even after decades of discrimination, you are a REAL heroine Ms. Truhill!
Over at NPRs page for the story Women’s Space Dreams Cut Short, Remembered you can listen to the audio and at the bottom of the article/transcript you can check out a time line of the history of women in space.
Brian C. Russell 