THE SIX
Endnotes
Table of Contents: Endnotes by chapter
Prologue
Page 1. Anna Fisher sat alone: Lynn Sherr, Sally Ride: America’s First Woman in Space (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2015), chap. 5, Kindle.
2. Just one month away from giving birth: Anna Fisher, presentation (MILE Spring 2021 Presentations, April 20, 2021, virtual).
2. had been inside the cockpit: NASA, “Cape Crusaders are Shuttle Crew’s Eyes and Ears,” news release, December 19, 2003 https://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/f_crusaders.html; Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
2. Anna loved it: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 5.
3. stepped through the open gray metal doors: “STS-7 Launch and Land,” NASA Video, posted to YouTube on December 28, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq8PAH0giKI.
4. This was where George: Michael Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker: How One Mysterious Engineer Ran Human Spaceflight for a Generation (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 2018), chap. 37, Kindle.
6. Oh my gosh, this is really going to happen: “Sally Ride Recalls ‘Spectacular View’ of Earth From Orbit,” NASA Video, posted to YouTube on May 17, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FaoSBc3HPo.
6. giant throngs of people: Frederic Golden, Sam Allis, Jerry Hannifin, “Toward A New Frontier,” Time, June 27, 1983.
6. Potentially, a half-million people: Ibid.
6. Shannon Lucid made her way: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
7. She didn’t much care: Ibid.
7. from the top of the Launch Control Center: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, March 3, 2011, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_3-3-11.htm.
7. stood nearby: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
7. Next to him stood Carolyn Huntoon: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020.
8. made her way to the roof’s edge: Rhea Seddon, Go For Orbit: One of America’s First Women Astronauts Finds Her Space (Your Space Press, 2015), pg. 147.
9. running through a checkout list: Kathy Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble: An Astronaut’s Story of Invention (Cambridge: The MIT Press, 2019), chap. 3, Kindle; Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
9. it was a convenient way to escape the launch: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 3.
10. A final judgment call from George Abbey: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
CHAPTER 1: But Only Men Can Be Astronauts
Page 11. Margaret “Rhea” Seddon was already staring into the open abdomen: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 5–6.
12. her presence in the doctors’ lounge would have been a serious transgression: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
12. She’d grown up in a completely different world: Ibid; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 7.
13. “People always followed in their parents’ footsteps”: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
13. “You are watching the beginning of a new era”: Rhea Seddon, Hoot Gibson, “An Astronaut Couple On Spaceflight, Marriage, and Family,” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, posted to YouTube on November 17, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riem9621FmU.
13. The launch of Sputnik would ultimately put Rhea on a different path: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Rhea Seddon, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 20, 2010, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SeddonMR/SeddonMR_5-20-10.htm.
13–14. She would eagerly dig through the innards of a dissected rat: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 9.
14. But the school felt as if it existed on another planet: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
14. the Free Speech Movement had erupted: Carol Pogash, “At Berkeley, Free (Though Subdued) Speech, 50 Years Later,” New York Times, October 1, 2014, https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/02/us/free-though-subdued-speech-50-years-later.html.
14. Rhea’s GPA struggled that first year: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 12; Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
15. “Came close to the time of the wedding”: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
15. she’d been one of just six women in a class of more than one hundred: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 13.
15. She wondered if it might lead to a future in space: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
15. Rhea contemplated if this was the life she really wanted: Ibid; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 15.
15. “What would you do if you weren’t doing this?”: Ibid.
16. “Hey, some friends of mine say”: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Rhea Seddon, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 20, 2010, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SeddonMR/SeddonMR_5-20-10.htm.
16. she was about to graduate from the University of Oklahoma: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020; Shannon Lucid, “Biographical Data,” University of Houston-Clear Lake archives, November 1993.
16. “I’m graduating in two weeks”: Ibid.
17. but, rather, in Shanghai, China: Ibid.
17. “We’re going to end up getting married”: Ibid.
18. she and her family were captured by the Japanese army: Ibid; “Three Astronaut Facts about Dr. Shannon Lucid,” Space Center Houston blog, June 15, 2018, https://spacecenter.org/three-astronaut-facts-about-dr-shannon-lucid/.
18. had one diaper for Shannon the entire voyage: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
18. a large Swedish ocean liner in service to the US State Department: Brigette Kamsler, “The Gripsholm Exchange and Repatriation Voyages,” The Burke Library Blog, Columbia University Libraries, September 17, 2012, https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/burke/2012/09/17/the-gripsholm-exchange-and-repatriation-voyages-2/.
18. the Wells family sailed around the globe twice: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
18. where Shannon received her first pair of shoes: “Three Astronaut Facts about Dr. Shannon Lucid.”
18. She figured that was just how most families lived: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
18. her family briefly moved to the mountainous village of Kuling: Ibid.
19. “I saw this figure, this person standing down there with a red scarf”: Ibid.
20. she saw seven men grace the cover of Life: Ibid. Shannon remembers them on the cover of Time magazine, but the Mercury Seven don’t appear on the cover together. It’s possible she’s referring to the cover of Life magazine.
21. I’m totally excluded: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
21. “You just had to take up the crumbs that were left”: Ibid.
21. a very important vehicle she owned: a Piper Clipper airplane: “Out of This World,” Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation blog post, https://omrf.org/findings/out-of-this-world/.
22. She sent out résumé after résumé: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020;
22. “People weren’t hiring women back in those days”: Ibid.
23. He’d originally thought the company was wrong to hire Shannon: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2021.
25. “I couldn’t put off the test”: Mary Lu Abbott, “Space Women: Men Astronauts Take Backseat in NASA’s Newest Crew Lineup,” Houston Chronicle, February 1, 1978. In her quote, Shannon said Shandara was born on a Thursday night, but her birthday was on a Tuesday.
25. It took four years for Shannon to achieve the pinnacle of academic rank: Shannon Lucid, “Biographical Data,” University of Houston-Clear Lake archives, November 1993.
25. when she spotted a short article toward the back: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2021.
26. She was in the midst of another twelve-hour day: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
26. She heard a familiar voice over the hospital’s PA system: Ibid.
26. her relationship with the hospital went back even further: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
27. “I’d really like to be an astronaut someday,” Anna admitted: Ibid.
27. A man by the name of Alan Shepard donned a silvery space suit: “Alan Shepard: Ambassador of Exploration,” NASA, posted to YouTube on May 4, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APwntCQ8Iiw.
27. Just before four in the morning: Associated Press, “Historic Day a Very Busy One For Astronaut Alan Shepard,” Ithaca Journal, May 5, 1961.
28. listened to the entirety of the flight on a transistor radio: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
28. The flight was originally supposed to take off at 7:20 a.m. EST: Michael Neufeld, “First American In Space: The Flight of Alan B. Shepard,” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum blog, May 5, 2021, https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/first-american-space-flight-alan-b-shepard .
28. her teacher paused the day’s fitness tests: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
28. “As he launched and I listened to him”: Ibid.
28–29. His career led him to Berlin after World War II: Elfriede Tingle obituary, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/dailybreeze/name/elfriede-tingle-obituary?id=16160266.
29. A shy little girl who enjoyed doing her math homework: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
30. that the school awarded her a merit scholarship: Interview with Augusta Gonzalez, 2021.
30. She was the first in her family to go to college: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
30. Her teachers didn’t exactly encourage women: Interview with Augusta Gonzalez, 2021.
30. Anna initially chose math as her route: “NASA Astronaut, Dr. Anna Fisher | Public Lecture,” University of Waikato, posted to YouTube on November 4, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0PG47LvUiw.
30. who turned out not to be the right partner for her: Interview with Sarah Favazza, 2021.
30. Anna decided she’d apply to medical school: “NASA Astronaut, Dr. Anna Fisher | Public Lecture,” University of Waikato, posted to YouTube on November 4, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0PG47LvUiw.
31. UCLA rejected her application: “Astronaut Anna Fisher Explains Why Getting Rejected from Medical School Paid Off – My Path,” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, posted to YouTube on March 26, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9Gnq8mEY2U.
31. Anna overheard a group laughing: Judy Klemesrud, “A Marriage That Was Made for The Heavens,” The New York Times, June 3, 1980.
31. Anna eventually found a phone to call her fiancé in Harbor General: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
CHAPTER 2: Far From Home
Page 33. She stood on the deck of the CSS Hudson: Andy Sherin, “From the seamounts to earth orbit and back,” The Newsletter of the BIO-Oceans Association, May 2016.
33. Kathy and her expedition team were headed to the Grand Banks: “Dalhousie Originals – Kathryn (Kathy) Sullivan,” Dalhousie Earth Sciences Blog, April 17, 2018 https://blogs.dal.ca/earthsciences/2018/04/17/dalhousie-originals-kathryn-kathy-sullivan/.
33. The goal was to gently scrape the tops of these mountains: Jessica Garcia, “Nevada Medal recipient: Science matters in daily life,” Nevada Appeal, March 25, 2021,
https://www.nevadaappeal.com/news/2021/mar/25/nevada-medal-recipient-science-matters-daily-life/.
34. nothing could compare to being out at sea like this: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 2.
34. Kathy had wanted to explore the unknown: Ibid; Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
34. her father accepted a job as an aerospace engineer at the Marquardt Corporation: Ibid.
35. She set a concrete goal for herself: Ibid.
36. such as oceanography and geology: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 2.
36. geologists had begun accepting the concept of plate tectonics and continental drift: “Open Dialogue Live: From Space to the Ocean Deep | Dalhousie University,” Dalhousie University, posted to YouTube on October 8, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZ_wbdjPZ20.
37. she knew what she really wanted was to dive below: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 2.
37. she’d been on a vessel that had held the Alvin submersible: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
37. and she brought tales of her expeditions home: Ibid; Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 2.
37. “How many twenty-six-year-old female PhDs”: Ibid.
38. Sally Ride peered up at a volleyball coming over the net: Scene derived from interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
39. Standing on a burnt-orange clay court in Spain: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap.1.
39. Sally threw herself into tennis: Ibid; Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
39. It was a love she inherited from her father, Dale: Ibid; Susan Okie, “Fame Finds Astronaut Determined to Ignore It,” The Washington Post, May 8, 1983.
39. She revered the Los Angeles Dodgers above all: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 1; Tam O’Shaughnessy, Sally Ride: A Photobiography of America’s Pioneering Woman in Space (New York: Roaring Book Press, 2015), chap. 1, Kindle.
40. During one tournament in Redlands, California: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
40. the girls would usually listen to records to wind down: O’Shaughnessy, Sally Ride, chap. 2; Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 1.
41. She’d often blow off her commitments: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
41. but Sally wouldn’t budge: NBC Nightly News segment, June 13, 1983.
41. Secure her a place on the team at the ritzy Westlake School for Girls: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
41. “She was certainly able to get straight As”: Ibid.
41. after her parents had bought her a small Bushnell telescope: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap.1; O’Shaughnessy, Sally Ride, chap. 2.
42. Her favorite had been Orion’s belt: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
42. All these paths ultimately led to Sally choosing physics: Interviews with Tam O’Shaughnessy, Susan Okie, 2021.
42. a full scholarship to Swarthmore College: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 1.
43. But she grew homesick for California: Interviews with Susan Okie, Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
43. she joined the UCLA tennis team after transferring: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 1.
43. She found she couldn’t fully commit to the packed days: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
43. she’d taken a course in Shakespeare and another in elementary quantum mechanics: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 2.
44. Sally was home at the two-bedroom house: Interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
44. “This is really difficult,” she said: Ibid.
45. The two women had known each other as kids: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
45. Molly was shocked when she got a knock on the door: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 2.
46. Bill had never suspected anything: Interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
46. Molly and Sally were nearing the end of their relationship: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 2.
46. Molly also wanted to be more open: Ibid; Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
47. Bill Colson had started dating other women: Interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
47. “NASA to recruit women”: Will Nixon, “NASA to recruit women,” The Stanford Daily, January 12, 1977.
47. Judy Resnik sat in the passenger seat of a sleek Triumph TR6: Scene derived from interview with Michael Oldak, 2021; UPI, “Resnik died ‘doing what she wanted to be doing,’” The Daily Sentinel-Tribune, February 4, 1986.
48. Judy learned to read and solve math problems: Katherine Foran, “Specialist aimed high all her life,” The Kansas City Times, February 7, 1986.
48. studying under accomplished Ohio musicians Arthur Reginald and Pat Pace: Barbara Galloway, “‘I just want to be an astronaut…’” The Akron Beacon Journal, January 29, 1986.
48. She became the sole female member of her school’s math club: Barbara Galloway, “A Private Astronaut: There is one thing that Akron’s Judith Resnik does not talk about: herself,” The Akron Beacon Journal, June 17, 1984.
48–49. when she achieved a perfect score on the math portion of her SATs: Galloway, “‘I just want to be an astronaut.’”
49. They met during her freshman year at Carnegie Institute of Technology: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021.
49. Judy’s grandfather, the Rav Jacob Resnik: Galloway, “A Private Astronaut.”
49. She accompanied him to a few of his electrical engineering classes: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021.
50. through her sorority, Alpha Epsilon Phi: “Famous Phis,” Alpha Epsilon Phi, https://www.aephi.org/famous-phis.
50. looking for someone who’d be willing to keep a Kosher household: Interview with Fani Brown Brandenburg, 2021.
50. While Michael would stay up all night studying: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021.
50. “She was just absolutely brilliant and extremely talented”: Ibid.
50. Sarah tried to instill in Judy a sense of order and discipline: Interview with Barbara Cheek, 2021; Scott Spencer, Chris Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik,” Esquire, December 1, 1986.
51. “All her time was structured, completely structured”: Interview with Barbara Cheek, 2021.
51. with Marvin accompanying her with his singing: Galloway, “A Private Astronaut.”
52. Judy also started dating the requisite bad boy: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021; Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
52. “When Judy was fourteen, all her friends were ice skating”: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021; Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
52. Marvin and Sarah’s marriage ended in divorce: The staff of The Washington Post, Challengers: The Inspiring Life Stories of the Seven Brave Astronauts of Shuttle Mission 51-L (New York: Pocket Books, 1986), pg. 86.
52. requesting to have custody switched from her mother to her father: State of Ohio Summit County, “Sarah P. Resnik, plaintiff, vs. Marvin Resnik, defendant: case no. 250416,” June 29, 1966.
53. periodically writing letters to him in Hebrew: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021.
53. Judy’s dad remarried after she’d graduated high school: Galloway, “A Private Astronaut.”
53. Michael loved meeting the family: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021.
53. she married Michael at Beth El Synagogue: Newspaper staff, “Honeymoon in Jamaica,” The Akron Beacon Journal, June 16, 1970.
53. she’d been confirmed during high school: Elizabeth Kolbert, “Judith Resnik’s Journey: Unhampered by Fear in Quest for Purposeful Work,” The New York Times, February 9, 1986.
53. spending much of their savings on an upright Steinway: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021.
54. Judy left to pursue her PhD in electrical engineering: Foran, “Specialist aimed high.”
54. Frustrated, she asked a coworker: Washington Post staff, Challengers, pg. 91.
54. Eventually, Michael finished law school: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021.
55. During her downtime, she’d visit the beach with friends: Interview with Fani Brown Brandenburg, 2021.
55. she mailed a postcard to Canada: Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
55. Judy turned on the radio and heard an announcement: “NASA Picks Two Southland Women: Physician and Engineer Among the Six Pioneers,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1978.
55. an advertisement for it on a bulletin board at work: Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
55. Or it’s possible she heard about the selection from Len: Ibid.
55. “Applying to be an astronaut”: Washington Post staff, Challengers, pg. 92.
CHAPTER 3: Still Warming Up the Bench
Page 56. Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb and Jane “Janey” Briggs Hart: “Qualifications For Astronauts,” Hearings Before the Special Subcommittee on the Selection of Astronauts of the Committee on Science and Astronauts, U.S. House of Representatives, 87th Congress, second session, July 17 and 18, 1962.
56. With her curly blond hair tucked behind her face: Joseph Hearst, “Women Pilots Urge: Give Us Role In Space,” Chicago Daily Tribune, July 18, 1962.
56. “How do you reconcile this emotional statement”: “Qualifications For Astronauts” hearings.
57. referring to it as a “small ball in the air”: “Official White House transcript of President Eisenhower’s Press and Radio Conference #123 concerning the development by the U.S. of an earth satellite,” Eisenhower Library, October 9, 1957, https://www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/sites/default/files/research/online-documents/sputnik/10-9-57.pdf.
57. never really liked the idea of getting into some sort of “race”: William Burrows, This New Ocean (New York: Random House, 1998), chap. 6, Kindle.
57. fearing it would add bloat to the federal budget: Yanek Mieczkowski, Eisenhower’s Sputnik Moment: The Race for Space and World Prestige (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2013), chap. 1, Kindle.
57. his administration sent legislation to Congress: Burrows, This New Ocean, chap. 6.
57. the new space agency would be a civilian one: “National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958,” Public Law #85-568, 72 Stat., 426. Signed by the President on July 29, 1958, Record Group 255, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, D.C.
58. actively wanted to keep the exploration of space peaceful: Mieczkowski, Eisenhower’s Sputnik Moment, chap. 2.
58. Eisenhower decided that only military-trained test pilots: Joseph D. Atkinson, Jay M. Shafritz, The Real Stuff: A History of NASA’s Astronaut Recruitment Program (New York: Praeger, 1985), pg. 36–37.
58. Test pilots were typically healthy and in good shape: Burrows, This New Ocean, chap. 8.
58. such as a propensity for booze, fast cars, and extramarital affairs: Margaret A. Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America’s First Women in Space Program (Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004), pg. 42.
58. a select few had even flown jets during World War II: Dorothy Cochrane, “Flying on the Homefront: Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP),” Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum feature, May 20, 2020, https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/flying-homefront-women-airforce-service-pilots-wasp.
58. would come home to find their piloting jobs taken by women: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 48–49.
59. drafting their own preliminary requirements for candidates: John M. Logsdon, Roger D. Launius, Exploring the Unknown Volume 7: Selected Documents in the History of the U.S. Civil Space Program, Human Space Flight Projects Mercury, Gemini and Apollo (Washington, D.C.: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 2008), pg. 130.
59. women who sought employment outside of housework: Interview with Margaret Weitekamp, 2021; Elaine Tyler May, Homeward Bound: American Families in the Cold War Era (New York: Basic Books, 1988), chap. 3, Kindle.
59. listed jobs in two separate sections: Laura Tanenbaum, Mark Engler, “Help Wanted— Female,” The New Republic, August 30, 2017, https://newrepublic.com/article/144614/help-wantedfemale.
59. They’d be more than just “spam in a can”: Tom Wolfe, The Right Stuff (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1979), chap. 3, Kindle.
59–60. women represented about 1 percent of all people employed as engineers: Martha Sloan, “Women engineers in the United States,” Educational Horizons Vol. 53, No. 3, Realizing Human Potential: Alternatives for Women (spring 1975), pg. 102–105.
60. they made up between 9 and 11 percent of employed scientists: Alice S. Rossi, “Women in Science: Why So Few?,” Science, New Series, Vol. 148 No. 3674, May 28, 1965, pg. 1196–1202.
60. Jerrie Cobb had strolled down the sands of Miami Beach: Jerrie Cobb, Jane Rieker, Woman Into Space: The Jerrie Cobb Story (Barakaldo Books, 2020), chap. 19, Kindle.
60. Tom had been her ally: Ibid, chap. 18.
60. She’d been flying since the age of twelve: Martha Ackmann, The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight (New York: Random House, 2003), chap. 2, Kindle.
60. she’d accumulated seven thousand flying hours: Cobb, Rieker, Woman Into Space, chap. 19.
60. she’d be named “Woman of the Year in Aviation”: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 73.
60. it hadn’t been enough to obtain employment: Cobb, Rieker, Woman Into Space, chap. 18.
61. two attractive men emerged from the ocean: Ibid, chap. 19.
61. General Flickinger was Brigadier General Donald D. Flickinger: Kathy L. Ryan et al., “A forgotten moment in physiology: the Lovelace Woman in Space Program (1960–1962),” Advances in Physiology Education vol. 33, September 1, 2009, pg. 157–164. https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/advan.00034.2009.
61. who’d developed an oxygen mask for pilots: Jake W. Spidle, Jr., The Lovelace Medical Center: Pioneer in American Health Care (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1987), pg. 57.
61. NASA had named Randy Lovelace chairman: Ryan et al., “A forgotten moment in physiology.”
62. Lovelace and his fellow doctors had poked, prodded, and nearly pulverized: Wolfe, The Right Stuff, chap. 4.
62. when Tom said the two men had just gotten back: Cobb, Rieker, Woman Into Space, chap. 19.
62. But research had started to suggest that women might be the ideal candidates: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 64–65.
63. Flickinger had already started planning a program: Ibid, pg. 71–72.
63. With tears filling her eyes: Cobb, Rieker, Woman Into Space, chap. 19.
63. Jerrie lay stiff as a board on a wooden table: “A Lady Proves She’s Fit for Space Flight,” Life magazine, August 29, 1960.
64. The road to testing hadn’t been a smooth one: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 74–75.
64. wrote a letter to Jerrie around Christmas telling her to get her affairs in order: Ibid. pg. 76.
64. Jerrie found herself breathing into strange tubes: Cobb, Rieker, Woman Into Space, chap. 20.
64. presenting the results of Jerrie’s tests during the Space and Naval Medicine Congress: Associated Press, “Feminie Astronaut Pass Test,” The Austin American-Statesman, August 19, 1960.
65. Newspapers and magazines ran stories about this curious “astronette”: “An ‘Astronette’s’ Only Fear,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, August 28, 1960.
65. call out her 36-26-34 figure: Jack Fox, “If Spacemen Can, She Can Too,” The Atlanta Constitution, August 24, 1960.
65. the seven pounds she lost: Associated Press, “Some Day I’ll Be There, Says Woman Astronaut,” The Boston Globe, August 24, 1960.
65. she was scared of grasshoppers: UPI, “Blonde Eager To Try Space: Passes Tests Given to U.S. Astronauts,” Chicago Daily Tribune, August 24, 1960.
65. “No. 1 Space Gal Seems a Little Astronaughty”: “No. 1 Space Gal Seems a Little Astronaughty,” New York Daily News, August 24, 1960.
65. He turned to a close friend, Jacqueline Cochran: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 79.
65. Jerrie handed over some names of women pilots: Cobb, Rieker, Woman Into Space, chap. 27.
65. Jerrie herself reached out to her friend Jerri Sloan Truhill: Sue Nelson, presenter, “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex,” BBC Radio 4, audio documentary, April 24, 1997.
65. eighteen additional women arrived at the Lovelace Clinic: Ryan et al., “A forgotten moment in physiology.”
66. Each swallowed a three-foot rubber hose: Nelson, “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex.”
66. undergo additional psychological testing at the Oklahoma City Veterans Hospital: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 109.
66. the consensus was that hallucinations would start: Ryan et al., “A forgotten moment in physiology.”
66. who appointed her as a special consultant to the agency: Joan Dark, “Jerrie Cobb May Be First Space Woman,” The Boston Globe, June 4, 1961.
66. having the women simulate the conditions of spaceflight: Nelson, “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex.”
67. “Now we who aspire to be women astronauts”: “Qualifications For Astronauts” hearings.
67. Rumors had intensified that the Soviet Union might launch a woman: Ackmann, The Mercury 13, chap. 1.
67. “No nation has yet sent a human female into space”: “Qualifications For Astronauts” hearings.
67. The Pensacola tests had always been on a shaky foundation: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 126–127.
67. Jerrie became determined to save the program: Ibid. pg. 133–135.
68. Kennedy had firmly set America on its quest: “Address at Rice University on the Nation’s Space Effort,” transcript, John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/historic-speeches/address-at-rice-university-on-the-nations-space-effort.
68. Outwardly, LBJ put on a cordial display for the two women: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 136–138. Weitekamp reveals a letter the vice president’s secretary had written from the politician addressed to NASA administrator James Webb, which asked for more clarification on when women could fly with NASA. But to show his true feelings on the matter, President Johnson had scrawled, “Let’s stop this now!” across the typed text.
68. “The Mercury astronauts had to have 1,500 hours of jet time”: “Qualifications For Astronauts” hearings. The rest of the hearings are derived from this document.
71. she’d been picked from a pool of five women finalists: David Shayler and Ian Moule, Women in Space: Following Valentina (Berlin: Spring-Praxis, 2005), pg. 46.
71. Valentina’s flight was mostly written off as a publicity stunt: Marvin Miles, “Valentina’s Orbiting Still Called Gimmick,” Los Angeles Times, July 7, 1963.
71. “We cannot allow that the first woman in space will be American”: Shayler and Moule, Women in Space, pg. 44.
71. she was a parachutist, not a pilot, after all: “Space Girl In Orbit, Ships May Link Up,” The Boston Globe, June 17, 1963.
71. Articles highlighted her plump figure: UPI, “Russia Sends Woman In Orbit for Expected Rendezvous in Space,” The Washington Post, June 17, 1963. 71. her infrequent application of lipstick: Associated Press, “Valentina Has Good Background—for a Russian Heroine,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, June 17, 1963.
71. Valentina had suffered some kind of emotional breakdown: Susan G. Butruille, “Mystery shrouds 1st woman in space,” Chicago Tribune, June 14, 1983; Robert Reinhold, “Americans In Space: Women Are Ready,” The New York Times, June 7, 1983.
72. “Their first woman was an absolute basket case”: Nelson, “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex.”
72. “the male astronauts are all for”: Ackmann, The Mercury 13, pg. 173.
72. “makes me sick at my stomach”: UPI, “U.S. Women Indignant: Why Weren’t We First?” The Boston Globe, June 17, 1963.
72. “I think we all look forward to the time when women”: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 158–159.
73. “The question of man’s sexual needs on flights”: Associated Press, “Is NASA for Coeds? Women’s Place in Outer Space,” The Washington Post, March 17, 1968.
73. He envisioned a time when space stations would dominate Earth: Weitekamp, Right Stuff, Wrong Sex, pg. 72.
73. “The U.S. Team Is Still Warming Up The Bench”: “She Orbits Over the Sex Barrier,” Life magazine, June 28, 1963.
CHAPTER 4: NASA Catches Up
Page 74. she said, smiling into the lens: “Space Shuttle Astronaut Recruitment Film with Nichelle Nichols,” NASA Video, filmed 1977, https://archive.org/details/2018-00917_Nichelle_Nichols_1977_Recruitment-Film_884550.mxf.
74. spring of 1977: Information provided by archive producer Stephen Slater to author, 2021.
75. “And this would require”: “Space Shuttle Astronaut Recruitment Film with Nichelle Nichols.”
75. NASA was recruiting a new class of astronauts: NASA JSC, “NASA To Recruit Space Shuttle Astronauts,” July 8, 1976.
75. NASA wanted women and people of color to apply: Ibid.
76. touted the “problem that has no name”: Betty Friedan, The Feminine Mystique (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2013), chap. 1, Kindle.
76. A new wave of feminism: Constance Grady, “The waves of feminism, and why people keep fighting over them, explained,” Vox, March 20, 2018, https://www.vox.com/2018/3/20/16955588/feminism-waves-explained-first-second-third-fourth.
76. The agency dodged question after question: Joseph D. Atkinson, Jay M. Shafritz, The Real Stuff: A History of NASA’s Astronaut Recruitment Program (New York: Praeger, 1985), pg. 134.
76. James Fletcher began to address the problem openly: Al Marsh, “Job Bias Under Fire at NASA,” Florida Today, March 3, 1972.
76. she was demoted from director to deputy director: “NASA’s Equal Opportunity Program,” Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Constitutional Rights, Committee on the Judiciary, U.S. House of Representatives, 93rd Congress, second session, March 13 and 14, 1974, pg. 80.
77. Ruth repeatedly pressured NASA management: Kim McQuaid, “‘Racism, Sexism, and Space Ventures’: Civil Rights at NASA in the Nixon Era and Beyond,” Societal Impact of Spaceflight, ed. Steven J. Dick and Roger D. Launius (Washington, D.C.: NASA Historical Relations Division, 2007), chap. 22, pg. 430.
77. compiled a report reviewing the state of diversity: “Space Missions, Payloads, and Traffic for the Shuttle Era,” Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, U.S. Senate, 93rd Congress, first session, October 30, 1973, pg. 200.
77. little more than 5 percent: Ibid, pg. 200.
77. “There have been three females sent into space”: Ibid, pg. 207.
77. “An entire generation of people”: Ibid, pg. 207.
77. claiming her to be a “disruptive force”: NASA Office of the Administrator, Memorandum to All NASA Employees, November 2, 1973.
77. transferred one of the other report authors: Tim O’Brien “NASA Official Fights Ouster,” The Washington Post, October 29, 1973.
77. Numerous headlines decried the decision: Associated Press, “Critic of Space Agency Hiring Policies Fired,” Los Angeles Times, October 29, 1973; Carl T. Rowan, “NASA fired black woman for trying to do her job,” Field Enterprises, Inc., The Minneapolis Star, December 28, 1973.
78. NASA rehired Ruth in a different role: NASA, “Mrs. Harris Assumes New Post at NASA,” news release, August 16, 1974.
78. a wider variety of individuals could be welcomed: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
78. NASA still employed dozens of astronauts from previous selections: NASA JSC, “More than 8,000 applicants vie for 30-40 astronaut slots,” Roundup newsletter, July 22, 1977; Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
78. Candidates needed to have a bachelor’s degree: NASA JSC, “NASA Issues Recruiting Call for Shuttle Pilots, Mission Specialists,” Roundup newsletter, July 16, 1976.
79. sat down at a meeting to discuss these requirements: Atkinson and Shafritz, The Real Stuff, pg. 145.
79. ready for his crews to look more like America: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
79. the first Black person to serve as a member: Atkinson and Shafritz, The Real Stuff, pg. 147.
79. Chris Kraft had asked her if she wanted to apply: Carolyn Huntoon, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, June 5, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/HuntoonCL/HuntoonCL_6-5-02.htm.
79. the first woman to serve: Duane Ross, Teresa Gomez, “Astronauts and the People who Selected Them: A Compendium,” Encyclopedia of Space Science and Technology, April 2003.
79. They weighed the merits of advertising: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 3; Atkinson and Shafritz, The Real Stuff, pg. 153–154.
80. it was all too much: Atkinson and Shafritz, The Real Stuff, pg. 155–156.
80. “I want no part of this”: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 29.
80. “There was definitely a feeling”: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
80. “Then on July 8, 1976”: NASA JSC, “NASA To Recruit Space Shuttle Astronauts,” news release, July 8, 1976.
80. “I am going to bring you so many qualified”: Kelly Knox, “Star Trek Week: How Nichelle Nichols Changed the Face of NASA,” September 26, 2012, https://www.wired.com/2012/09/nichelle-nichols/.
80. “The Shuttle will be taking scientists and engineers”: “Space Shuttle Astronaut Recruitment Film with Nichelle Nichols,” NASA Video, filmed 1977, https://archive.org/details/2018-00917_Nichelle_Nichols_1977_Recruitment-Film_884550.mxf.
80. Carolyn and many of the other individuals: Atkinson and Shafritz, The Real Stuff, pg. 154; Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020.
81. “I can’t imagine any woman”: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020.
81. standard-issue federal employment application form: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
81. About the only thing she did know: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 18.
81. a spark immediately ignited inside: Ron Laytner, Donald Mclachlan, “Ride, Sally Ride: Her place is space,” Chicago Tribune, April 24, 1983; Susan Okie, “NASA Appeal Gave A Physicist Wings,” The Washington Post, May 9, 1983.
82. a sheet of paper with Stanford’s Institute for Plasma Research letterhead: Scan of letter provided by Tam O’Shaughnessy, written in 1977.
82. A form arrived roughly a week later: Sally Ride, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, October 22, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/RideSK/RideSK_10-22-02.htm.
82. She already had the standard government form on hand: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
82. set about getting all the information together: “NASA Astronaut, Dr. Anna Fisher | Public Lecture,” University of Waikato, posted to YouTube on November 4, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0PG47LvUiw.
82. postmarked the day before the deadline: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
82. getting a response that asked if she was really sure: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
83. She and Len embarked on a small campaign: Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
83. She cut her hair: Washington Post staff, Challengers, pg. 92.
83. began visiting the National Air and Space Museum: Interview with Michael Oldak, 2021; Mark Jones, “NASA Picks Two Southland Women: Physician and Engineer Among the Six Pioneers,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1978; People staff, “NASA Picks Six Women Astronauts with The Message: You’re Going a Long Way, Baby,” People, February 6, 1978.
83. “Hi, Mike, how are you?”: Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
84. JSC’s data management system consisted of an IBM Selectric typewriter: Interview with Duane Ross, 2021.
84. “It was a pain”: Ibid.
84. NASA found that 1,544 women had applied: UPI, “NASA Breaks Two Barriers,” Philadelphia Daily News, January 16, 1978; Interview with Duane Ross, 2021.
84. That narrowed down the pool to 5,680: David Shayler and Colin Burgess, NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection: Redefining the Right Stuff (Switzerland: Springer, 2020), chap. 1, Kindle.
84. focused on finding up to forty people: NASA JSC, “NASA to Interview Astronaut Applicants,” July 29, 1977.
84. come up with a points system: Interviews with Duane Ross, Jay Honeycutt, 2021.
84. “You wind up with everyone with the same score”: Interview with Duane Ross, 2021.
85. settling on 208 candidates, including twenty-one women: NASA JSC, “Tenth Group of Astronaut Applicants Report to JSC November 14,” news release, November 11, 1977.
85. when she received a phone call from someone at NASA: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
85. “What will the week entail, sir?”: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 22.
85. “Will there be any other women?”: Ibid.
85. going over plans for what was going to be a busy few weeks: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
86. “It’s NASA”: Ibid.
87. rumor began to spread: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
87. “I’m going to Houston for an interview”: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
87. she’d accepted a job at the Xerox Corporation: NASA Biographical Data, Judith A. Resnik, University of Houston-Clear Lake archives, September 1984.
87. jogging along the beach across the highway: Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
87. “Daddy, guess what? I’ve applied to NASA”: Katherine Foran, “Specialist aimed high all her life,” The Kansas City Times, February 7, 1986.
88. it was a professor at Columbia University: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 2.
88. “Hey, are you going to take my postdoc?”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
88. “Haven’t we told you ‘no’ yet?”: Ibid.
89. “What exactly does this mean?”: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 2.
89. arrived in Houston on August 2, 1977: NASA JSC, “NASA to Interview Astronaut Applicants,” press release, July 29, 1977.
89. was made up entirely of mission specialist candidates: NASA JSC, “Third Group of 20 Astronaut Applicants Includes Eight Women,” press release, August 25, 1977.
89. Each interview week began on a Sunday: Multiple interviews with members of selection board and TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
90. “I felt very much out of place”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
90. He wanted each of them to write an essay: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
90. “I’ve been fascinated with space”: scan of essay provided by Tam O’Shaughnessy, written in 1977.
90. “I also think it is time that women be allowed”: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 27.
90. “I realize that there will be certain significant sacrifices”: Scan of essay provided by Anna Fisher during virtual presentation, written in 1977.
90–91. A mob of journalists accosted them: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 27; NBC Nightly News segment, August 29, 1977.
91. Rhea politely answered more of the reporters’ questions: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; NBC Nightly News segment, August 29, 1977.
91. whether there’d be romance in space: Linda Gillan, “A Space Age Equation: First Female Astronauts = X,” Los Angeles Times, August 30, 1977.
91. she was mortified by the journalists’ framing: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
91. The candidates ran on treadmills: NASA JSC, “Physicians explains scope of astronaut applicant physicals,” Roundup newsletter, December 9, 1977.
91. there were twenty-four different medical procedures: NASA JSC, “JSC’s medical team practices astronaut applicant screening,” Roundup newsletter, April 15, 1977.
92. There was a “good cop”: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
92. if they loved their mothers: Sara Sanborn, “Sally Ride, Astronaut: The World Is Watching,” Ms., January 1983.
92. “If you could come back as any animal”: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 32; Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
92. For Terry, it wasn’t what the candidates: Interview with Taibi Kahler, who collaborated with Terry McGuire, 2020.
92. Terry’s foil was Dr. Eddie Harris, the “bad cop”: Shayler and Burgess, NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection, chap. 1.
92. “Count backwards from one hundred by seven”: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
92–93. Eddie would declare it loudly and stare at them: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
93. step inside a “personal rescue sphere”: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
93. Everything felt like a test: Ibid.
93. “The implication was if you’re strolling aimlessly”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
93. Sally discovered the racquetball court in the gym: Shayler and Burgess, NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection, chap. 1.
94. “She proceeded to destroy both of us”: Ibid.
94. she started to get a feeling that this place: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
94. everything was more or less pass-fail: Interview with George Abbey, 2021; Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020.
94. felt a bit like walking into an inquisition: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
95. “Start in high school”: Interview with Duane Ross, 2021.
95. As the candidates spoke: Multiple interviews with members of selection board and TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
95. “What if, on the plane going back to Memphis”: Seddon, Go for Orbit, pg. 31.
96. Anna also tried to be as honest as possible: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
96. “I want to have children”: Ibid.
96. Shannon waited for the question about family to come up: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
97. “Absolutely not. I travel now”: Ibid.
97. were asked their thoughts on the Panama Canal Treaty: Multiple interviews with members of selection board and TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
97. “Well, it’s ours, we built it, and we ought to keep it”: Interview with John Fabian, recalling another astronaut candidate, 2021.
97. “They asked me my thoughts on the Vietnam War”: Ibid.
97. such as if they wanted a Coke: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
97. “My father was an astronaut”: Interview with Rick Hauck, recalling another astronaut candidate, 2021.
97. “Have you ever had amnesia?”: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
97. “I don’t know. I can’t remember”: Jerry Adler, Pamela Abramson, “Sally Ride: Ready for Liftoff,” Newsweek, June 13, 1983.
98. the selection board wanted team players: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020; Interview with Jay Honeycutt, 2021.
98. The panel also sought people who could be flexible: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
98. “We wanted to make sure that they understood”: Ibid.
98. The Shuttle’s inaugural flight was scheduled for 1979: Richard S. Lewis, The Voyages of Columbia: The First True Spaceship (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), pg. 83.
99. “We didn’t want to go through the time and expense”: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020.
99. a barbecue dinner at Pe-Te’s Cajun BBQ House: Interview with Bob Crippen, 2021.
CHAPTER 5: Are You Still Interested in Coming to Work for NASA?
Page 100. “So can you tell me anything?”: Interview with Duane Ross, 2021.
101. questioned the need for so many pilots: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 29; Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
101. Candidates who’d met during their group interviews: “Intimate Portrait: Sally Ride,” VHS, Lifetime Tonight, 2000.
101. to trek down to Edwards Air Force Base: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 3.
101–102. NASA was conducting its last few landing tests: NASA JSC, “Fifth Shuttle Orbiter Free Flight Set for October 26,” press release, October 19, 1977.
102. the spacecraft’s massive tires: George Alexander, “Space Shuttle’s Test Flight Program Ends With a Bump,” Los Angeles Times, October 27, 1977.
102. “What the hell was that?”: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 30.
102. “Up until this morning”: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 3.
103. Rhea received a call from: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
103. “Would you believe you’ve been picked”: “New Astronauts,” interview by Jules Bergman for ABC News, January 16, 1978.
103. She thought it might be some kind of hypothetical question: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 38.
103. thinking she’d look ridiculous: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
104. Judy called Anna the same day of Rhea’s interview: Anna Fisher, “Ask an Astronaut Session,” Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, January 22, 2022.
104. Anna was getting the same weird requests: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
104. “We kind of had an idea”: Anna Fisher, “Ask an Astronaut Session,” Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, January 22, 2022.
104. George showed up at his office in Building 1: Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, “Legacy of the 35 New Guys,” Houston History Magazine, fall 2008.
105. It was around six thirty in the morning: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
105. wondering if something awful had happened: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 2.
105. “Are you still interested in coming to work for NASA?”: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts on how George offered them the position, 2020–2021.
105. “There was at least one who told me no”: Interview with George Abbey 2021.
106. Rhea was back at work that morning: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 40.
106. popped into the room where Shannon was working: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
106. “Your mommy might be like Mr. Spock in Star Trek”: James Hoffman and Mathew Tekulsky, “Adventurers in Space: Six extraordinary women look to the stars and see their futures,” Family Weekly, March 19, 1978.
106. Sally’s phone rang at around 5:00 or 6:00 a.m.: Sally Ride, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview with Rebecca Wright, October 22, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/RideSK/RideSK_10-22-02.htm.
107. Thinking this might all be a dream, she replied “Yes, sir!”: Ibid; Susan Okie, “NASA Appeal Gave A Physicist Wings,” The Washington Post, May 9, 1983.
107. “Hello, this is your friendly local astronaut”: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
107. Judy had just walked out the door: Mark Jones, “NASA Picks Two Southland Women: Physician and Engineer Among the Six Pioneers,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1978.
107. “I did it”: Washington Post staff, Challengers, pg. 93.
107. An NBC camera crew was standing with them: NBC Nightly News segment, January 16, 1978.
107. who then became the only person to ever receive a rejection: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
108. And they assumed that: Ibid; Sara Terry, “New astronaut set for move: Both Fishers welcome her selection by NASA,” The Christian Science Monitor, April 17, 1978.
108. embraced Anna when he hung up: NBC Nightly News segment, January 16, 1978.
108. “I think that in the last few years”: CBS Evening News segment, January 16, 1978.
108. Another reporter apologized for asking: Vivian Vahlberg, “State’s Astronaut Highly Visible,” The Daily Oklahoman, January 17, 1978.
108. forcing her employers to set up a press conference: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 41; CBS Evening News segment, January 16, 1978; Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
109. “What’s the highest you’ve ever been before?”: David Ansley, “New woman astronaut gets instant fame,” The Stanford Daily, January 31, 1978.
109. showed up at the Fisher home to interview Anna: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
109. “I think that when there are as many women astronauts as men”: Mark Jones, “NASA Picks Two Southland Women: Physician and Engineer Among the Six Pioneers,” Los Angeles Times, January 17, 1978.
109. “It’s fantastic that Anna was chosen”: Hoffman and Tekulsky, “Adventurers in Space.”
109. “One day I was a doctor working in medical training”: Anna Fisher, “Ask an Astronaut Session,” Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, January 22, 2022.
109. Bill took Judy and Anna out on the town: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
109. “Can you believe this is really happening?”: Ibid.
110. Requests rolled in from The Today Show: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 42.
110. A CBS News crew profiled Rhea and Shannon: CBS Evening News segment, January 30, 1978.
110. “I mean, this was my job”: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
110. NASA sent telegrams: Photographed telegram of Sally Ride’s invitation provided to author by Tam O’Shaughnessy, dated January 16, 1978.
111. a mixture of NASA employees and members of the press: NASA JSC, “Press Conference: Dr. Kraft introduces new astronauts to JSC personnel,” video provided to author via FOIA, recorded January 31, 1978.
112. Chris introduced the group as “a great bunch of guys”: UPI, “New Astronauts All ‘Great Guys,’” Los Angeles Times, February 1, 1978.
112. the astronauts would be available for interviews: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
112. NASA officials whisked away the women and minority astronauts: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
112. “ten interesting people and twenty-five standard white guys”: Kathy Sullivan, “STS Panel,” Spacefest in Tucson, Arizona, July 16, 2021.
113. gathered the Six together: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
113. Carolyn prepared them to get all manner of questions: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020.
113. “When someone gets the Nobel Prize”: Ibid.
113. the women strategized: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
113. “We all look at ourselves as just one of the guys”: Abbott, “Space women.”
114. “I just want to be a person going into space”: Associated Press, “Astronauts’ orientation begins,” The Shreveport Times, February 1, 1978.
114. “I think it had to do with the fact”: Ibid.
114. one of the Six recognized an opportunity: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm; Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 3
115. “Now let’s have a high kick”: Associated Press, “Astronauts’ orientation begins,” The Shreveport Times, February 1, 1978.
115. “We’d like a picture of the white males, please”: Ibid.
115. Their jobs basically concluded about five minutes: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
115. finally leaving NASA after hours of interviews: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 3
115. referred to them as “The Glamornauts”: Barry Hart, “The Glamornauts: America’s eye- popping space gals are really flying high,” The Midnight Globe, March 18, 1980.
115. one anchor read off their names one by one: CBS Evening News segment, January 30, 1978.
115. “girls” or “ladies in space”: Janis Williams, “Make Way for the Ladies in Space,” The Saturday Evening Post, September 1982.
115. ages, heights, and weights: Sharon Herbaugh, Associated Press, “Pioneers in space: 6 women in training for work aboard the trail blazing space shuttle,” The Austin American-Statesman, April 3, 1980; Barbara Strauch, “Women astronauts ready for space travel: the eight newcomers are a remarkable, intelligent bunch, hardly likely to scare easily,” The Houston Chronicle, May 8, 1983.
115. “You’re going a long way, baby”: People staff, “NASA Picks Six Women Astronauts.”
115–116. “I think that’s great; that ought to be interesting”: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, NBC, January 17, 1978.
116. “Astronauts Hurdle Sex, Race Barriers”: UPI, “Astronauts Hurdle Sex, Race Barriers,” The Hartford Courant, January 17, 1978.
116. “Men astronauts take backseat in newest crew lineup”: Abbott, “Space women.”
116. the thirty-five astronauts gathered: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
116. “Hello, I’m Rhea”: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 44; Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
117. “I’d say maybe twenty percent of women”: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
117. She slightly deflated: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 44
117. that night he viewed the women and the other civilians: Mike Mullane, Riding Rockets: The Outrageous Tales of a Space Shuttle Astronaut (New York: Scribner, 2006), chap. 5; Interview with Mike Mullane, 2020.
117. The group was told to report for duty first thing July 10: Photographed telegram of Sally Ride’s invitation provided to author by Tam O’Shaughnessy, dated January 16, 1978.
CHAPTER 6: Jet-Setting
Page 118. Judy getting the very first taste: ABC Nightly News segments, July 10, 1978.
118. with Len remaining in Canada as a commercial pilot: Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
118. been able to fly on NASA’s fleet of jets: ABC Nightly News segments, July 10, 1978.
118. Rick Hauck and Jim Buchli: Interview with Rick Hauck, 2021.
119. bringing her physicist boyfriend, Bill: Interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
119. they’d gone up to Muir Woods: Ibid.
119. Michael eventually landed a job at the Shell Oil Company: “One of the Few Who Got The Job–Astronaut,” The New York Times, Jun 29, 1979.
119. Bill Fisher continued his ER work: Aimee Lee Ball, “Anna Fisher: Bound for Space,” Redbook, April 1979.
119. he signed up for graduate courses in engineering: Klemesrud, “Made for The Heavens”; Jane Ulrich, “1 giant step… for womankind,” Austin American-Statesman, August 27, 1978.
119. “It is just so hot”: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
120. hardly believing she was driving to her first day: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
120. pop out of the driver’s seat of a Corvette Silver Anniversary: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
120. salaries would range from $11,000 to $34,000: NASA JSC, “More than 8,000 applicants vie for 30-40 astronaut slots,” Roundup newsletter, July 22, 1977.
120. Sally’s initial salary began at $21,833: Photographed telegram of Sally Ride’s invitation provided to author by Tam O’Shaughnessy, dated January 16, 1978.
120. Rhea told a reporter she was making $24,700: Thomas O’Toole, “Thirty-Five New Guys; They Don’t Hire Astronauts Like They Used To: The Latest Batch of Rocket Jockeys Includes One Oriental, Three Blacks, and Six Women. And 13 of the 35 Are Scientists or Physicians,” Washington Post Magazine, July 20, 1980.
120. Anna’s take from working in the ER: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
120. her dad to cosign a home loan: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
120. “I’d pay them for this job”: Abbott, “Space women.”
121. a full-scale Saturn V rocket: “Houston, we have a restored moon rocket,” Collect Space, July 20, 2007, http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-072007a.html.
121. the all-astronauts meeting: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
121. Another twenty-seven astronauts: NASA JSC, “1978: New 35 astronaut candidates join Shuttle era,” Roundup newsletter, January 20, 1978.
121. both groups intimidated by the other: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 8.
121. already knew each other: Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, “Legacy of the 35 New Guys,” Houston History Magazine, fall 2008; Interviews with Rick Hauck, Dan Brandenstein, 2021.
122. He and George then explained: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 31.
122. they’d come to NASA as astronaut candidates: Atkinson and Sahfritz, The Real Stuff, pg. 158.
122. was going to be diverse and grueling: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
123. one of the new recruits stood up to make an announcement: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 8.
123. who sketched out a logo for the class: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
123. carried an impish double meaning: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
124. “We didn’t want to become ‘the girl astronauts’”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
124. The biggest addition before the women’s arrival: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020; Sanborn, “Sally Ride, Astronaut: The World Is Watching.”
124. The two snuck off to a nearby department store: “Space Center Houston Thought Leader Series,” recorded interview of Shannon Lucid, Anna Fisher, and Rhea Seddon by John Charles, June 28, 2018, https://spacecenter.org/video-thought-leader-series-pioneers-of-space-exploration/.
124. NASA flew the Six and the other male jet newbies: NASA JSC, “Astro tyros survive water,” Roundup newsletter, August 4, 1978.
125. strode out through one-hundred-degree heat: Earl Lane, “The New Astronauts,” Newsday, October 10, 1978.
125. give him a “happy look”: “People,” Time, August 14, 1978.
125. the Six were being dragged: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020; Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 47.
126. The Six had to swim beneath floating parachutes: Peter Gwynne, “Sextet for Space,” Newsweek, August 14, 1978; Interviews with Rhea Seddon, Shannon Lucid, Steve Hawley, 2020–2021.
126. The barges filled with gawking reporters: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Interview with Jeff Hoffman, 2022.
126. “We’re under enough stress”: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
126. What am I doing here?: Gwynne, “Sextet.”
126. this time to Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma: NASA JSC “Astro Candidates Train in Oklahoma,” Roundup newsletter, September 1, 1978.
127. the wind whipped her into the air: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
127. Judy messed up her ankle: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Rhea Seddon, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2010, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SeddonMR/SeddonMR_5-20-10.htm.
127. capable of propelling the vehicle faster than the speed of sound: NASA, “T-38s Soar as Spaceflight Trainers,” press release, April 20, 2011, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/flyout/t38flyout.html.
127. at least fifteen hours per month: Interview with Rick Hauck, 2021.
128. forbidden from taking off and landing the jets: Ibid.
128. Just stepping onto the ladder: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
128. the women would get their hands on the controls: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
128. “We fly by feel rather than deflection”: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
128. challenged the Six to become ace jet pilots: Interviews with Hoot Gibson, Rhea Seddon, John Fabian, Rick Hauck, Dan Brandenstein, John Creighton, 2020–2021.
129. Rhea tried to remain calm: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 59.
129. “You realized that there was this added burden”: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
130. found themselves landing in the middle of a freak snowstorm: Interview with Dan Brandenstein, 2021.
130. The biggest disappointment for her: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
130. “But Shannon, he flew in Vietnam and got shot at”: Ibid.
131. being at the mercy of another pilot’s schedule: Ibid.
131. Some hogged the controls and didn’t speak: Ibid.
131. earned praise as “50 percenters”: Ibid.
131. that meant finding the best teachers and avoiding the thrill-seekers: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 122.
131. flying as close to the ground as he could get: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 12.
131. pulling off dive bombs on oil rigs: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
131. get into dogfights: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 12.
131. gravitating to the sandy-haired Robert “Hoot” Gibson: Interview with Rhea Seddon, Hoot Gibson, 2021.
132. Judy, Sally, and Anna often found themselves: Interviews with Rick Hauck, John Fabian, Dan Brandenstein, Jon McBride, 2021.
132. Shannon often flew with John Creighton: Interview with John Creighton, 2021.
132. weren’t allowed to fly under five thousand feet: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
132. “I let them land”: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
132. “Judy was a natural pilot”: Ibid.
132. began taking private lessons on the side: “Intimate Portrait: Sally Ride,” Lifetime Tonight.
132. completed her first solo cross-country flight in a Cessna 150: Ball, “Bound For Space.”
132. “The truth is that most of the skills”: Interview with Steve Hawley, 20201.
132. most of the TFNGs’ time was spent in the classroom: “An Interview with Sally Ride,” PBS Nova, filmed in 1984, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb6vw9AmiLs; Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
132–133. with Rick Hauck and John Fabian in charge: Interviews with Rick Hauck, John Fabian, 2021.
133. The classes covered every possible component of the Space Shuttle: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
133. how to talk like a NASA engineer: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022.
133. would involve studying the Earth from space: Interview with Rick Hauck, 2021.
134. the TFNGs spent the rest of their time traveling throughout the United States: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
134. “I’ll just never forget the director”: Hoot Gibson, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, November 1, 2013, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/GibsonRL/GibsonRL_11-1-13.htm.
134. a visit to Boeing: Interview with Rick Hauck, Dan Brandenstein, 2021; Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
135. “No, we don’t mean the simulator”: Interview with Rick Hauck, 2021.
135. “Well, I would”: Ibid.
136. “So Sally, what other airplanes have you been checked out in?”: Ibid. The three people who were at this demonstration all remember it slightly different. Rick and Dan remember Sally spilling the beans, while Anna remembers that she spilled the beans.
136. It was a massive KC-135: NASA, “‘As the Stomach Turns’ on the KC-135,” press release, October 16, 2003, https://www.nasa.gov/missions/research/kc135.html.
137. had created a very basic throne: NASA, “Shuttle’s Toilet Requires Special Training,” posted to YouTube on May 5, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1wwzwvfsC0.
137. they’d chug as much liquid as they could: Seddon, Go for Orbit, pg. 66–67.
137. had a camera inside: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 13; NASA, “Shuttle’s Toilet Requires Special Training.”
138. working out and staying in shape: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
138. If a fellow ASCAN popped his or her head: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
138. their every move was being scrutinized: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
138. When Rhea found herself struggling with SCUBA training: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 70–71.
138. the ASCANs filed into a room to listen to a speech by Gene Kranz: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 10.
139. “Hey! We’ve got a fire in the cockpit”: “Apollo 1 Audio Recording,” NASA, recorded on January 27, 1967, https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Apollo_One_Recording.ogg.
CHAPTER 7: The Dawn of the Space Shuttle
Page 140. a paradigm-changing transition: Robert C. Cowen, “NASA calls space shuttle ‘door to future,’” Christian Science Monitor, January 7, 1972.
140. he assembled the Space Task Group: John Logsdon, After Apollo? Richard Nixon and the American Space Program (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2015), chap. 1, Kindle.
140. The options spanned a wide range: Space Task Group, “The Post-Apollo Space Program: Directions for the Future,” September 1969.
141. Nixon eventually decided to focus on just one: NASA History Office, “President Nixon’s 1972 Announcement on the Space Shuttle,” January 5, 1972, https://history.nasa.gov/stsnixon.htm.
141. Congress’s mood had turned frugal: John Uri, “50 Years Ago: After Apollo, What? Space Task Group Report to President Nixon,” NASA press release, September 18, 2019, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/50-years-ago-after-apollo-what-space-task-group-report-to-president-nixon.
141. routine trips to and from low Earth orbit: Howard Benedict, “Space Shuttle To Fly By 1980: The Next Giant Step Into Space,” Associated Press, Austin American-Statesman, April 14, 1974.
141. the Space Shuttle can get it there for you: John Noble Wilford, “Another Small Step For Man: Shuttling Into Space Shuttle,” The New York Times, August 7, 1977.
142. The vaunted versatility of the spaceplane ultimately dictated its final design: Interview with Wayne Hale, 2021.
143. a particle mixture of ammonium, aluminum, iron, and other combustible materials: “Solid Rocket Boosters,” NASA, https://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight/system/system_SRB.html.
143. They’d become the largest solid rockets ever flown: Guinness World Records, “Largest solid rocket booster,” September 10, 2009, https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/largest-solid-rocket-booster.
143. Thiokol couldn’t transport the rockets in one piece to the launch site in Florida: Interview with Wayne Hale, 2021.
144. considered key to opening spaceflight up to the masses: Ronald Kotulak, “Shuttle opens new space era,” Chicago Tribune, October 31, 1978; Congressional Quarterly, “Shuttle Expected To Pioneer Low-Budget Space Travel,” The Hartford Courant, July 13, 1979.
144. like sailing the Queen Mary across the ocean: Interview with Wayne Hale, 2021.
145. An early study from NASA and the Defense Department: Logsdon, After Apollo, chap. 9.
145. by the end of the following year: NASA JSC, “First Shuttle orbital flight paced by main engine testing,” Roundup newsletter, August 4, 1978.
145. George Abbey had already picked two of the crew members: NASA JSC, “NASA Names Astronaut Crews For Early Shuttle Flights,” press release, March 16, 1978.
145. come up with a new definition for the term “NASA”: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
145–146. kept blowing up during testing: Richard S. Lewis, The Voyages of Columbia: The First True Spaceship (New York: Columbia University Press, 1984), pg. 66–69; Associated Press, “Engine Explosion May Delay Launch Of Space Shuttle,” The Washington Post, January 4, 1979.
146. covered in roughly thirty thousand insulating tiles made of silica fibers: Lewis, The Voyages of Columbia, pg. 69.
146. heated to nearly three thousand degrees Fahrenheit: NASA, “Orbiter Thermal Protection System,” NASA Facts, https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/167473main_TPS-08.pdf.
146. a process that could take up to forty hours for each tile: Lewis, The Voyages of Columbia, pg. 88.
146. Boeing’s 747 carried the sparkling-new Columbia: Associated Press, “Space Shuttle Arrives To Launch New Era,” The Atlanta Constitution, March 25, 1979.
147. it was missing a large chunk of its tiles: Lewis, The Voyages of Columbia, pg. 84.
147. through a process called densification: Lewis, The Voyages of Columbia, pg. 113; Interview with Dan Brandenstein, 2021.
147. It was frustrating for NASA and government officials: Tom Incantalupo, “Space Shuttle Plan Earthbound,” Newsday, July 23, 1979.
147. the spacecraft was committed to launching until the two giant candles burned out: Interview with Wayne Hale, 2021.
148. By the spring of 1979: NASA JSC, “Schooling of Astronauts, 35 New Candidates Is Varied, Exciting,” press release, April 8, 1979.
148. NASA created two types of simulators: Interview with Frank Hughes, 2021.
148. Priority was given to the prime crew astronauts: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
148. But the TFNGs got plenty of time to observe: NASA JSC, “Schooling of Astronauts, 35 New Candidates Is Varied, Exciting,” press release, April 8, 1979.
148. Notorious NASA trainers known as Simulation Supervisors: Wayne Hale, “Nexus of Evil,” Wayne Hale’s Blog, NASA, February 16, 2010, https://blogs.nasa.gov/waynehalesblog/2010/02/16/post_1266353065166/.
149. began to speculate on what the assignments meant: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022.
149. work with the Space Shuttle’s fancy new Remote Manipulator System: Shayler and Burgess, NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection, chap. 7; Interviews with John Fabian, Tam O’Shaughnessy, Steve Hawley, Bill Colson, 2021.
149. the arm was a snakelike mechanical appendage: Brandi Dean, “Space Shuttle Canadarm Robotic Arm Marks 25 Years in Space,” NASA press release, November 9, 2006, https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/behindscenes/rms_anniversary.html.
149. it couldn’t carry its own weight on Earth: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
150. took impressive hand-eye coordination: Ibid.
150. tell Bill that she thought she was pretty good: Interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
150. Judy began studying all sorts of software: Shayler and Burgess, NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection, chap. 7.
150. worked with other astronauts like John Fabian and Mike Mullane: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
150. she found herself assigned to the robotic arm: Interview with John Fabian, 2021; Tony Locy, “CMU Grad Hopes To Be Spacewoman,” Pittsburgh Press, January 3, 1982.
150. Anna’s initial role was also a big one: testing out space suits: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
150. develop an extra-small suit to accommodate more body types: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
150. Anna had to wear an old Apollo suit: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
151. “For the smaller women if you can get a good suit fit”: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, March 3, 2011, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_3-3-11.htm.
151. she’d spy people taking her picture and waving at her: Anna Fisher, MILE spring 2021 presentation.
151. a space-suit technician told a reporter: Kathleen Hughes, “NASA’s Wardrobe for Spacewalks Isn’t Suitable to These Astronauts,” The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 1984.
151. Shannon found herself in a place called SAIL: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020; Shayler and Burgess, NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection, chap. 7.
151. but others feared assignments like hers: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
152. It was something Kathy feared when she was assigned: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 3; Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
152. Rhea wasn’t thrilled with hers: Rhea Seddon, virtual book signing, November 4, 2020.
152. “I ended up with the cooks”: Rhea Seddon, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 20, 2010, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SeddonMR/SeddonMR_5-20-10.htm.
152. convincing herself that she’d been picked because of her background in nutrition: Ibid.
153. the food packet tests happened concurrently: Ibid.
153. “These technical assignments were deliberately intended”: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 31.
153. one day in August 1979: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022; NASA JSC, “35 Astronaut Candidates Complete Training and Evaluation Period,” press release, August 31, 1979.
153. awarded a small silver pin: Interview with Jeff Hoffman, 2022.
153. emerged into the Florida air: John Uri, “40 Years Ago: Space Shuttle Columbia Rolls Out to Launch Pad 39A,” NASA feature, December 15, 2020, https://www.nasa.gov/feature/40-years-ago-space-shuttle-columbia-rolls-out-to-launch-pad-39a.
154. George had made sure that most of the astronauts: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts 2020–2021.
154. Rhea and Anna had been tapped: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, March 3, 2011, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_3-3-11.htm; Seddon, Go for Orbit, pg. 108.
154. Rhea chose to be stationed at Cape Canaveral: Seddon, Go for Orbit, pg. 109.
155. Anna would be waiting out in the bleached landscape of White Sands: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, March 3, 2011, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_3-3-11.htm.
155. Also stationed out in White Sands would be Shannon: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
155. that meant flexing their performance skills: Nancy Peacock, “Ex-Akron astronaut waits: Judith Resnik will help on NBC-TV,” The Akron Beacon Journal, April 9, 1981; “1981’s TV Space Odyssey: The Flight of the Columbia,” Broadcasting, April 20, 1981.
155. Kathy had been assigned to ABC: Kathy Sullivan, “Respectfully Correcting a Moonwalker On National TV,” Kathy Sullivan Explores, podcast audio, February 3, 2022, https://www.kathysullivanexplores.com/podcast/spose-she-dies.
156. Kathy overheard Gene give an incorrect explanation: Ibid.
156. “Next thing I knew, I was up on the TV set with Frank Reynolds”: Ibid.
156. she did have to play dress-up for the cameras: Carlos Byars, “Woman astronaut who starred on TV still eyeing stars in sky,” Houston Chronicle, April 19, 1981.
156. Judy dutifully answered NBC anchor Tom Brokaw’s questions: “Astronaut Judy Resnik interview 9th April 1981,” posted to YouTube on July 25, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaafRyuwA8w.
157. Columbia’s first launch attempt on April 10: Lewis, The Voyages of Columbia, pg. 127–128.
158. she’d also drawn chase duty: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 4; Shayler and Burgess, NASA’s First Space Shuttle Astronaut Selection, chap. 7.
CHAPTER 8: Working with Men
Page 159. Rhea Seddon donned a long white gown: Interview with Rhea Seddon, Hoot Gibson, 2021; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 127.
160. almost immediately Hoot proclaimed “Dead pilot”: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
160. the two had been practicing Shuttle chasing: Ibid; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 106.
160. Hoot knew of only one T-38 pilot: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
160. his wife didn’t take well to Houston: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 125.
160. “I feel myself very attracted to you”: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
161. Hoot would always joke: Ibid.
161. Anna Fisher and her husband got there first: NASA JSC, “NASA Selects 19 Astronaut Candidates,” news release, May 29, 1980.
161. Anna no longer had to hold in her excitement: Klemesrud, “Made for The Heavens.”
161. 17 percent of NASA’s workforce: US Government Accountability Office, “National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Equal Employment Opportunity Program Could Be Improved,” April 16, 1975, https://www.gao.gov/products/fpcd-75-107.
162. entertained the affections of women: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 9.
162. he’d hung a Playboy pinup calendar: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
162. she handed out pink bumper stickers: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 3, 2011 https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_5-3-11.htm.
162. “A woman is a cock pit”: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 7.
163. “I know I felt that”: Lawrence Wright, “Space Cadet,” Texas Monthly, July 1981, https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/space-cadet/.
163. she and her male colleague spotted Chuck Yeager: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 4.
163. the agency would send an astronaut to represent the corps: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2020.
163. they blamed their wives: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
164. “I think it’s great we’re having women astronauts”: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2021.
164. Kathy had been assigned to work at Cape Canaveral: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
164. “Well, actually, you know, I’ve been thinking about this”: Ibid.
165. “It’s not like we were taking a vote”: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2021.
165. something of a mother hen: Rhea Seddon, virtual book signing, November 4, 2020.
165. royal blue flight suits that didn’t really fit them: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; Rhea Seddon, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 21, 2010, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SeddonMR/SeddonMR_5-21-10.htm.
165. “They were not very flattering”: Ibid.
165. centered on the outsize attention the Six were receiving: Interview with Carolyn Huntoon, 2021.
166. “By complaining about it all the time”: Ibid.
166. they weren’t exactly best friends: Susan Witty, “Our First Women In Space,” GEO magazine, September 1982; Interview with Bonnie Dunbar, 2022.
166. “When I wasn’t working, I was home”: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
166. naturally formed a stronger bond than with the other four: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
166. found herself liking Judy the best: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021; Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
166. “I was this girly girl from the South”: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
166. It was the men whom the women actually spent the most time: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2021.
167. Judy found pink satin sheets lining the bed: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 74; Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
167. put the creature in her purse: Interview with Mike Mullane, 2021; Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021; Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 7.
167. tasked with going over the thousands of switches: Sullivan, Handprints on Hubble, chap. 3.
168. Hoot watched in amusement: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
168. she accompanied John Fabian to the Air Force Academy: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
169. “I was prepared for people to make all the typical comments”: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2021.
169. “I changed that opinion”: Wright, “Space Cadet.”
169. When they weren’t at the Outpost Tavern: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
169. Hoot read about an upcoming total solar eclipse: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
170. As for Mike Coats, he partnered with Steve Hawley: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
170. Steve had been intrigued by Sally from the beginning: Ibid.
170. she’d responded to a reporter’s question the same way: Wally McNamee, “Newsmakers,” Newsweek, February 13, 1978.
170. Wow, she said the same thing I did: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
171. “I wasn’t particularly fitting in”: Interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
171. “I…found it a little boring”: Ibid.
171. She briefly dated Hoot at first: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
172. a group of TFNGs rented a couple of cabins in Texas Hill Country: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
172. She had a reputation for being able to hang out with men: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2021.
172. “Judy had that unique way of navigating”: Interview with Mike Mullane, 2020.
172. Judy had kept in touch with Len: Spencer, Spolar, “The Epic Flight of Judith Resnik.”
173. “Judy was my best friend in the Astronaut Office”: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
CHAPTER 9: Choosing “The One”
Page 174. George Abbey was standing in his office: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 35; Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 15.
175. George Abbey’s attention was prime capital: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022.
175. walking the astronauts out to the vehicle: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 37.
175. surmising that achieving his favor: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022.
175. “One of our standard adages in the office”: Kathy Sullivan, “STS Panel,” Spacefest in Tucson, Arizona, July 16, 2021.
175. George’s decision-making process was a mystery: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts 2020–2021.
176. “That was the biggest hobby in the Astronaut Office”: Interview with Dan Brandenstein, 2021.
176. King George: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 15.
176. Those who became George’s drinking buddies: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
176. one of the astronauts carried a small white sign: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, prologue.
176–177. While working together ahead of STS-2: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
177. “One of the complaints that you heard”: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
177. And those who did get assigned to flights: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022.
178. “There wasn’t any real magic about it”: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
178. But he also had another plan in mind: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 36.
179. to those who fit the more feminine, idealized version of womanhood: Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, “You’ve Come a Long Way, Maybe: The First Six Women Astronauts and the Media,” Spacefarers: Images of Astronauts and Cosmonauts in the Heroic Era of Spaceflight (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, 2013), chap. 8, Kindle.
179. Redbook featured her on its cover: Andrea Fooner, “Countdown To Fitness: How An Astronaut Stays In Shape,” Redbook, June 1978.
179. despite her routine at the time: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009. https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
179. Her face appeared in numerous magazine features: Caroline Seebohm, “Shaping Up For Space,” House and Garden, July 1978, pg. 104; Janice Williams, “Make Way For The Ladies In Space,” The Saturday Evening Post, pg. 43; Witty, “Our First Women In Space.”
179. the merits of the Space Shuttle program on TV: “The New Astronauts,” The Dick Cavett Show, Daphne Productions, January 28th, 1981; CBS Evening News segment, March 13, 1980.
179. “I just felt like, if there’s anything I can do to get good publicity”: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
179. The New York Times declared: Klemesrud, “Made for the Heavens.”
180. Pictures of her submerged in the Gulf of Mexico: Gwynne, “Sextet”; Witty, “Our First Women In Space.”
180. floating weightless in the Vomit Comet: Hart, “The Glamornauts.”
180. touting “The Lady Astronaut’s Diet”: Ross-Nazzal, “You’ve Come A Long Way, Maybe.”
180. the press also delighted in their love story: Kent Demaret, “Hoot Gibson And Rhea Seddon Have The Right Stuff To Be The First Married Couple In Space,” People, September 7, 1981, pg. 41.
180. Would the couples eventually fly into space together?: Ibid; Associated Press, “Spouses for Space: Husband joins wife as astronaut candidate for shuttle,” The Austin American-Statesman, May 30, 1980.
180. “If you were going to line the six of us up”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
180. noting her larger size compared to her more petite colleagues: People staff, “NASA Picks Six Women Astronauts.”
180. quickly cast as the mother figure of the bunch: Tom Belden, “Women, black find ‘impossible dream’ as astronauts.” The Dallas Morning News, February 5, 1978.
180. Her introverted self: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021; Interview with Lynn Sherr, 2021.
181. she preferred talking to one female reporter, Lynn Sherr: Interview with Lynn Sherr, 2021.
181. her feeling was that her life was none of the press’s business: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021; People staff, “NASA Picks Six Women Astronauts”; Lynn Sherr, “Remembering Judy,” Ms., June 1986, pg. 57.
181. notably her divorce: Bob Downing, “Akron’s Judith Resnik scheduled for Jun 4 space shuttle flight,” The Akron Beacon Journal, November 23, 1983; Rosemary Whitman Lamb, “The right stuff for a maiden flight,” The Age, August 31, 1984; Carrie Dolan, “Success Stories: How Four Women Are Prospering In Jobs Usually Held By Men,” The Wall Street Journal, June 29, 1983.
181. she wasn’t interested in giving the public: Interviews with Michael Oldak, Fani Brown Brandenburg, 2021.
181. when she did her answers were succinct: Luther Young, “Judy Resnik: Astronaut is eager for orbit but not the sex-role analysis,” The Baltimore Sun, September 26, 1983.
181. “I’ve got to bet there’s some big factor”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
181. the politics at play underlying the decision: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2021.
181. “Being first was one thing”: Ibid.
181. the astronaut corps also placed imaginary bets: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022.
182. everyone kept a watchful eye on the kinds of assignments: Anna Fisher, “Ask an Astronaut Session,” Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, January 22, 2022.
182. The dexterous robot had so much versatility: Dean, “Space Shuttle Canadarm Robotic Arm Marks 25 Years in Space.”
182. Everyone felt that it was either going to be Sally or Judy: Interviews with multiple TFNG astronauts, 2020–2022.
182. Anna had also started work on the robotic arm: Memo from Henry E. Clements to Chris Kraft and Clifford Charlesworth, “The attached is a matrix of Mission Specialists being considered for the STS-7 and STS-8 flights,” dated April 14, 1982, provided to author by Michael Cassutt.
182. had become just as adept at the controls: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
182. she held a coveted role as Capsule Communicator: Julie Gray, “MBA Briefs,” Working Woman, October 1982, pg. 42.
182. CAPCOMs would relay crucial communication: Sanborn, “Sally Ride, Astronaut: The World Is Watching.”
182. Judy took on a leadership role with the robotic arm: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
182–183. she did get to spend time in Mission Control too for STS-3: “STS-3 Mission Control Center Activity,” NASA photo provided by Space Frontiers/Getty Images.
183. the go-to robotic arm expert: Locy, “CMU Grad Hopes To Be Spacewoman.”
183. “It’s kind of difficult to fight tooth and nail”: Susan Okie, “Cool Hand Sally Showed The Right Stuff,” The Washington Post, May 10, 1983.
183. She’d found out she was pregnant: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 131.
183. Rhea searched for Hoot in the SAIL: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
183. “Do you have some time to look”: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 132.
184. Hoot gasped, thrilled: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
184. They wouldn’t tell NASA right away: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
184. She’d found out she was going to have a little boy: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 133.
184. she and Hoot formed a united front: Interviews with Hoot Gibson, Rhea Seddon 2021.
185. as soon as she sat down, her phone rang: Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 134–135; Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
185–186. Hoot broke the news to the rest of the corps: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
186. George was ready to make a decision: Henry E. Clements memo.
186. The seventh flight, STS-7, would be unique: NASA JSC, “STS-7 Space Shuttle Program Mission Report,” July 1983.
187. George already had a commander in mind for this flight: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
187. George presented his crew ideas to the space center director: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 36.
187. “Why not Anna?”: Cassutt, The Astronaut Maker, chap. 36; Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
187. “I had to justify to Kraft”: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
188. he asked Bob Crippen to come meet in his office: Interview with Bob Crippen, 2021.
188. “We all knew that whoever was going to be the first”: Ibid.
188. “I know I felt, and I think George did also”: Ibid.
188. In a memo addressed to Chris Kraft: Henry E. Clements memo.
189. “It turned out Sally was the best qualified”: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
189. Early on Monday morning, April 19, 1982: NASA JSC, “Three Shuttle Crews Announced,” press release, April 19, 1982; Okie, “Cool Hand Sally.”
189. she’d been told to come home early: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 5.
190. “How do you like the job you have now”: Okie, “Cool Hand Sally.”
190. George then escorted Sally out of his office: Sally Ride, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, October 22, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/RideSK/RideSK_10-22-02.htm.
190. Chris launched into a speech: Ibid; Okie, “Cool Hand Sally.”
191. He was giving her an out: Okie, “Cool Hand Sally.”
191. “There was no doubt in my mind”: “Intimate Portrait: Sally Ride,” Lifetime Tonight.
191. Sally told Chris that she had thought about this: Okie, “Cool Hand Sally.”
CHAPTER 10: Ready, Set…
Page 192. “How does it feel to realize”: “STS-7 Crew Introduction,” NASA audio, recorded April 29, 1982.
192. Wearing a royal purple blouse: CBS Evening News segment, April 29, 1982; NBC Nightly News segment, April 29, 1982.
192. “Gosh, that’s quite an honor”: “STS-7 Crew Introduction,” NASA audio.
194. “It’s normally the first man who does it is under a little bit of tension”: CBS Evening News segment, April 29, 1982.
194. George had announced the crews for the three missions: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 16.
194. been forbidden from telling anyone: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
194. Mike Mullane sat down next to them: Ibid; Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 16.
194. “We’ve made some crew assignments”: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 16.
194. the mood instantly mutated: Ibid; Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
195. “This is bullshit”: Mullane, Riding Rockets, chap. 16.
195. “I would have loved to have gone first”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
195. She just wanted to see space: Interview with Shannon Lucid, 2020.
195. “Of course, every one of us wanted to be first”: Anna Fisher, “Ask an Astronaut Session,” Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, January 22, 2022.
195. “I had to decide: Do I want to have a baby now”: Interview with Rhea Seddon, 2021.
196. “I think later on in life”: Rhea Seddon, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 21, 2010, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SeddonMR/SeddonMR_5-21-10.htm.
196. the astronauts hosted a small celebration: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
196. “Mr. Abbey, Stevie and I need to tell you something”: Ibid.
196. “We didn’t see you at the celebration last night”: Ibid.
196. “You got it”: Okie, “Cool Hand Sally.”
197. But her excitement mostly stemmed from the fact: “STS-7 Crew Introduction,” NASA audio, recorded April 29, 1982; Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
197. But Steve noticed something else: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
197. “She saw all of that”: Ibid.
197. with the entire crew of STS-7 moving: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
197. He’d made her the flight engineer: Interview with Bob Crippen, 2021.
198. she and Steve traveled to Kansas to Steve’s parents’ house: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
199. “It didn’t seem like I was a real priority”: Ibid.
199. “I knew back then, and it became even clearer later”: Ibid.
199. the pair wearing T-shirts and white jeans: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 5.
199. “We didn’t want to make a big deal of it”: Newspaper staff, “People In The News,” Pittsburgh Press, August 14, 1982.
199. Steve gave permission to Dick Scobee: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
199. Their wedding only manifested as a short paragraph: Newspaper staff, “2nd astronaut couple wed,” The Houston Chronicle, August 14, 1982.
199. The couple had just bought a new house: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021; Seddon, Go For Orbit, pg. 139.
200. The doctor solemnly replied, “Yes”: Interview with Hoot Gibson, 2021.
200. Rhea and Hoot presented Paul to the press: UPI, “‘Experience’ Gives Son Of Astronauts A Boost,” The Memphis-Press Scimitar, August 6, 1982.
201. the couple realized that the window to have children: Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
201. “I wasn’t assigned to a crew”: Aimee Lee Ball, “When Mom Is An Astronaut,” The Boston Globe, October 28, 1984.
201. assigned to be Astronaut Support Personnel: Ibid.
202. “Anna, if you do that, I’m going to shoot you”: Ibid.
202. “had a baby bump going on”: Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, Making Space For Women: Stories from Trailblazing Women of NASA’s Johnson Space Center (College Station: Texas A&M University Press, 2022), pg. 145.
202. the person who’d assigned her to the body-dragging task wasn’t happy: Ball, “When Mom Is An Astronaut.”
202. On August 19, 1982: Shayler and Moule, Women in Space, pg. 204.
202. When the Soviets learned of NASA’s recruitment: Ibid, pg. 201.
202. When she arrived at the station: Ibid, pg. 206.
203. “There is a kitchen and that will be where you work”: Seth Mydans, “Female Soviet Astronaut Says That Women Have a Place in Space,” The New York Times, August 11, 1984.
203. George had assigned another TFNG: NASA JSC, “Fifth Crewmember named for STS-7 and STS-8,” press release, December 16, 1982.
203. More than half of the people NASA sent into space: Davis JR, Vanderploeg JM, Santy PA, Jennings RT, Stewart DF, “Space motion sickness during 24 flights of the Space Shuttle,” Aviation, Space, and Environmental Medicine, 1988, pg. 1185–1189.
203. Norm’s task was to develop experiments: Interviews with Rick Hauck, John Fabian, 2021.
203. alternating between the ones that stayed fixed: Interview with Frank Hughes, 2021.
204. the team graduated to integrated simulations: Susan Okie, “Simulated Flights Prepare Crew for the Real Thing,” The Washington Post, May 11, 1983.
204. a few pranksters on the training team got a rubber mouse: Interview with Frank Hughes, 2021.
204. Sally had to do her standard bench checks: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 10, 2007, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-10-07.htm.
205. On her bench was a personal hygiene kit: Kathy Sullivan, “The Lady Astronaut’s Toiletry Kit,” Kathy Sullivan Explores, podcast audio, August 19, 2021, https://www.kathysullivanexplores.com/podcast/the-lady-astronauts-toiletries-kit.
205. It was a makeup kit: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 28, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-28-09.htm.
205. had to go through a small amount of testing: Annemarie Dooling, “The Real Reason Why NASA Created Makeup for Women,” Racked, January 31, 2018, https://www.racked.com/2018/1/31/16938682/nasa-makeup-astronauts; Anna Fisher, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, February 17, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/FisherAL/FisherAL_2-17-09.htm.
205. One of Anna’s first technical assignments: Ibid.
205. “A makeup kit brought to you by NASA engineers”: Sally Ride, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, October 22, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/RideSK/RideSK_10-22-02.htm.
206. “I think she would have grabbed whichever”: Kathy Sullivan, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, May 28, 2009, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/SullivanKD/SullivanKD_5-28-09.htm.
206. “If there would be pictures taken of me from space”: Rhea Seddon, “Diapers, Underwear, and Makeup,” blog post, https://astronautrheaseddon.com/diapers-underwear-makeup/
206. Sally noticed a weird band of pink plastic: Sullivan, “The Lady Astronaut’s Toiletry Kit.”
206. “No. That would not be the right number”: Sally Ride, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, October 22, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/RideSK/RideSK_10-22-02.htm.
207. when Sally did appear in public: Interview with Bob Crippen, 2021.
207. she agreed to cooperate with a reporter from the Washington Post: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
207. Sue had made it known to the sports reporter: Ibid.
208. “Molly wanted that, but I didn’t”: Ibid.
208. sent a shock through her system: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
208. within twenty-four hours of going public: Rachel Shuster, “Billie Jean King: Tennis star least of her important roles,” USA Today Sports, May 22, 2013, https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/2013/05/22/billie-jean-king-icons-innovators-world-team-tennis-womens-rights/2159071/.
208. The idea incensed her: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
208. Sally trusted Sue: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
209. “They’ll have your picture in here”: Okie, “Fame Finds Astronaut Determined to Ignore It.”
209. “She couldn’t talk about that or even think about that”: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
209. “I have lost my dominant trait”: Okie, “Simulated Flights.”
209. the Space Shuttle still crashed: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
209. NASA had declared the vehicle “operational”: Ronald Kotulak, Carol Oppenheim, “Columbia’s Landing Opens New Era in Space,” Chicago Tribune, July 5, 1982.
209. sent shivers down Sue’s spine: Interview with Susan Okie, 2021.
209. “They can always give you enough failures”: Ibid.
210. to have lunch with President Reagan: Interviews with John Fabian, Rick Hauck, Bob Crippen, 2021.
210. not someone Sally was then a big supporter of: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
210. both Bob and Sally became stuck in the elevator: Interview with Bob Crippen, 2021.
210. “It seems my life isn’t my own anymore”: Laytner, Mclachlan, “Ride, Sally Ride.”
210. appeared on the covers of Newsweek, U.S. News & World Report, People, and more: Newsweek, June 13, 1983; U.S. News & World Report, November 29, 1982; Ms., January 1983; People, June 20, 1983.
210. “She doesn’t offer information”: Adler, Abramson, “Sally Ride: Ready for Liftoff.”
210. During an appearance on Today: Ibid.
210. “difficult, unreachable, stone-cold, in contempt of the press”: Kathleen Hendrix, “First female astronaut maintains status as a very private person,” Los Angeles Times–Washington Post News Service, published in The Houston Chronicle, May 17, 1982.
210. dedicated an entire segment to Sally on NBC News: Tom Brokaw, “Ride’s Ride,” NBC Nightly News segment, June 13, 1983.
211. Sally set the tone from the start: NASA, “STS-7 Pre-Launch Press Conference,” video provided to author via FOIA, recorded May 24, 1983.
212. “We’ve interviewed lots of Texans this week”: Thomas O’Toole, “Sally Ride Soars At Her First News Session,” The Washington Post, May 25, 1983.
213. “I didn’t join this program to get media attention”: “STS-7 Pre-Launch Press Conference.”
214. One night, he joked that Sally “just canceled her Space Shuttle flight”: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, NBC, June 16, 1983.
214. Sally being unable to “find a matching purse”: The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, NBC, May 13, 1983.
214. Sally and the rest of her crew entered quarantine: Interview with Steve Hawley, 2021.
214. three days before her scheduled liftoff: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
CHAPTER 11: Sally’s Ride
Page 215. George noticed that Sally was pacing: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 5; Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
215. a dilapidated, boxy condo nestled in the sand: Cheryl Mansfield, “If Walls Could Talk,” NASA press release, June 28, 2005, https://www.nasa.gov/missions/shuttle/beach_house.html.
215. “You’re going to feel uneasy certainly”: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
216. as had plenty of Sally’s old tennis buddies: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
216. Bill Colson got an invite: Interview with Bill Colson, 2021.
216. as did Molly Tyson: Interview with Tam O’Shaughnessy, 2021.
216. only knew Molly as Sally’s former roommate: Frederic Golden, Sam Allis, Jerry Hannifin, “Sally’s Joy Ride into the Sky,” Time, June 13, 1983, pg. 58; Michael Ryan, “A Ride In Space: As she prepares to break the sex barrier, America’s first woman in orbit is steady, professional—and annoyed by the attention,” People, June 20, 1983.
216. “If anyone could make her feel more comfortable”: Interview with George Abbey, 2021.
216. He had Molly undergo a quick physical: Sherr, Sally Ride, chap. 5.
216. But she was pleasantly surprised: Ibid.
216. “I’m aware that this is not without risks”: Ibid.
217. with a wake-up call at 3:13 a.m.: UPI, “Sally Ride Jet-Hops With Mission Chief,” Los Angeles Times, June 16, 1983.
217. Sally donned a striped polo and pants: “STS-7 Launch and Land,” NASA Video, posted to YouTube on December 28, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq8PAH0giKI.
217. “I was struggling very hard”: “Intimate Portrait: Sally Ride,” Lifetime Tonight.
217. “That’s the last one of those”: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
218. the massive crowds of more than 500,000 people: NASA, “Chronology of KSC and KSC Related Events for 1983,” October 1, 1984, https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/19850009618/downloads/19850009618.pdf.
218. Gloria Steinem, the famous American feminist and activist: CBS Evening News segment, June 18, 1983.
218. actress and activist Jane Fonda: UPI, “Spacewoman’s Flight Draws Celebrity Crowd,” The Hartford Courant, June 19, 1983.
218. Jane’s presence at the launch would cause a stir: John Noble Wilford, “Controversy Over Jane Fonda Costs NASA Official His Post,” The New York Times, October 15, 1983.
218. focused on the control panel and screens: Sally Ride comments on STS-7, personal audio recordings provided to author by Tam O’Shaughnessy, recorded 1983.
219. Sally could feel the slightest bump in her heart rate: Ibid.
219. “We have ignition!”: Ibid.
219. “All of a sudden, I felt totally helpless”: “Intimate Portrait: Sally Ride,” Lifetime Tonight.
219. The Shuttle twisted through the air: Interview with Wayne Hale, 2021.
220. squeaking out “LV, LH”: Sally Ride comments on STS-7, audio recording. As Lynn Sherr noted in her book, Sally in subsequent interviews has said she said “roll program,” but her responsibility was to say “LV, LH.”
220. “I’ll guarantee that those were the hardest words”: Sally Ride, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, October 22, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/RideSK/RideSK_10-22-02.htm.
220. Sally felt that the months and months of training: Sally Ride comments on STS-7, audio recording.
220. “We have MECO”: STS-7 air-to-ground audio, Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/STS-7.
220. Sally took the checklist attached to her: Sally Ride comments on STS-7, audio recording.
221. Sally stayed strapped to her seat: Ibid.
221. the crew watched as the continent of Africa passed below: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
221. “Ever been to Disneyland?”: NASA, “STS-7 Air Ground Transcript,” University of Houston-Clear Lake archives.
221. her biggest concern was that she was going to somehow mess up: ABC Nightly News segment, May 6, 1983.
222. though it took some time at first to adjust: Sally Ride comments on STS-7, audio recording.
222. “That really messed my brain up”: Interview with Rick Hauck, 2021.
223. First up on Day One was deploying: NASA, “STS-7 Post Flight, Flight Operations Report No. M-989-03-07,” August 5, 1983, produced by the NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI).
223. On the fourth day: Rockwell International, “STS-7 Press Information,” press kit, June 1983.
223. John took the first shift: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
223. The lens snapped a dark, moody photograph: NASA photograph, “Inflight – STS-7,” June 27, 1983, https://images.nasa.gov/details-S83-35799.
224. After lunch, it was Sally’s turn: “Space Shuttle Flight 7 (STS-7) Post Flight Presentation,” National Space Society, posted to YouTube on May 12, 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN94P9xJKOA.
224. Mimicking what John had done in the morning: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
224. “Those pictures are a very important part of my memory”: Ibid.
224. This is real metal that will hit real metal: Sally Ride, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, October 22, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/RideSK/RideSK_10-22-02.htm.
225. Rick turned and noticed a small crack: Interview with Rick Hauck, 2021.
225. Crip decided not to tell Mission Control: Interview with John Fabian, 2021.
225. the astronauts would take turns: Sally Ride comments on STS-7, audio recording.
225. One moment coral reefs peeked out at her: “Sally Ride Recalls ‘Spectacular View’ of Earth From Orbit,” NASA Video.
226. “It looked as if someone had taken a royal blue crayon”: Ibid.
226. “Challenger, this is Houston”: NASA, “STS-7 Air Ground Transcript.”
226. who’d been selected in a fresh batch of recruits: NASA JSC, “New Candidates: 3 From JSC Among New 19,” Roundup newsletter, June 13, 1980.
227. A reporter later lamented to Mary: Mary Cleave, “NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project,” interview by Rebecca Wright, March 5, 2002, https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/CleaveML/CleaveML_3-5-02.htm.
227. slated to perform the first Shuttle landing in Florida: Rockwell International, “STS-7 Press Information,” press kit, June 1983.
227. A thick fog bank had rolled over: Carlos Byars, “Space Shuttle lands in Calif.,” Houston Chronicle, June 24, 1983.
227. only a small crowd of air force personnel: ABC Nightly News segment, June 24, 1983.
228. “The thing that I’ll remember most”: Ibid.
228. With a big smile: NBC Nightly News segment, June 25, 1983.
228. they all made their way to limousines: Sally Ride essay excerpt, Paul Hoversten, “Sally Ride, 1951-2012: Honoring America’s first woman in space,” Smithsonian Magazine