Right Stuff, Wrong Sex

There was a time, before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, when some researchers believed women were better suited for space than men. In 1961, a group of female pilots—today known as the Mercury 13—quietly aced NASA’s toughest astronaut tests, even outperforming the Mercury men in some areas. But with the space race heating up, their mission was grounded—but not by science. This episode we explore what became of America’s first female astronaut candidates.

Transcript

Guests:

• Margaret Weitekamp, chair of the space history department at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, and author of Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America’s First Women in Space Program and Space Craze: America’s Enduring Fascination with Real and Imagined Spaceflight
• Emily Calandrelli, engineer, author, and TV show host of Emily’s Wonderlab and Xploration Outer Space