In 1961, just as NASA launched its first man into space, a group of women underwent secret testing in the hopes of becoming America’s first female astronauts. They passed the same battery of tests at the legendary Lovelace Foundation as did the Mercury 7 astronauts, but they were summarily dismissed by the boys’ club at NASA and on Capitol Hill. The USSR sent its first woman into space in 1963; the United States did not follow suit for another twenty years. For the first time, Martha Ackmann tells the story of the dramatic events surrounding these thirteen remarkable women, all crackerjack pilots and patriots who sometimes sacrificed jobs and marriages for a chance to participate in America’s space race against the Soviet Union. In addition to talking extensively to these women, Ackmann interviewed Chuck Yeager, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, and others at NASA and in the White House with firsthand knowledge of the program, and includes here never-before-seen photographs of the Mercury 13 passing their Lovelace tests. Despite the crushing disappointment of watching their dreams being derailed, the Mercury 13 went on to extraordinary achievement in their lives: Jerrie Cobb, who began flying when she was so small she had to sit on pillows to see out of the cockpit, dedicated her life to flying solo missions to the Amazon rain forest; Wally Funk, who talked her way into the Lovelace trials, went on to become one of the first female FAA investigators; Janey Hart, mother of eight and, at age forty, the oldest astronaut candidate, had the political savvy to steer the women through congressional hearings and later helped found the National Organization for Women. A provocative tribute to these extraordinary women, The Mercury 13 is an unforgettable story of determination, resilience, and inextinguishable hope.

Even though the outcome is known - no, the women did not become astronauts - I was hoping for an inspiring story of endurance and passion, but in the end just felt depressed. While the women themselves were in the main admirable, especially Jerrie Cobb who campaigned tirelessly, I couldn't decide if the doctor who put them through the same testing as the men did so only for his own scientific curiosity or because he really believed he could persuade NASA to entertain a women's astronaut programme. In any case it seems particularly cruel that the hopes of the women were raised just to be dashed by the male prejudice of NASA, the government, and the military who owned the spaceflight training equipment. While it is an interesting look at the early years of the US space race I came away from this book feeling dispirited at the disservice done to these women. ( )

To take part in this adventure, no matter how small, I consider the most important thing we have ever done. To be ASKED to participate, the greatest honor. To accept, an absolute duty. So, go Jan, go. And take your part, even as a statistic, in man's great adventure. - Marion Dietrich's heartfelt letter to her twin sister Jan - who was hesitant about being part of the Lovelace testing.

As with all stories of grave injustices, this was an incredibly frustrating one to read.

Despite being just as - and in some cases, much more - qualified as the Mercury 7 astronauts, institutional sexism prevented thirteen highly accomplished pilots from becoming America's first female astronauts in the 60s.

To read about all the physical and mental hurdles they had to pass as well as having to contend with being a woman in the 60s while knowing that the first American female astronaut wasn't till 1983; Knowing that despite all their triumphs in passing these rigorous testings, their hard work and skill and determination were all for nought; That the catharsis of all their disappointments and lost hope could only come twenty, thirty years later for someone else. All this background knowledge made the book a struggle to read.

No less infuriating were all the gatekeepers of the sexism that prevented these worthy space candidates. The societal expectations, the stereotypes, the gross jokes made (the most egregious being by a director at NASA), the ludicrous excuse that if we let women be astronauts, then we gotta let all these minorities be astronauts too and we can't have that, the petty jealousies fueled by the need for patriarchal approvals. The number of times I growled and cussed at people in the book.

Ackmann does a superbly detailed, well-researched account (which alternated between being very clinical and impossibly insightful of individual character's motives - a real range of authorial liberties taken here) of the physical, personal, and social pressures that these ambitious women had to overcome to get to where they were. It was bittersweet to learn about their achievements despite all the obstacles. And thus, instead of an uplifting tale of space being a true equaliser of humanity, it's a sobering reminder of how sexism/racism/other-isms have buried and continues to bury potential.

Aside: I was prompted to read this book after Mary Roach mentioned Mercury 13 in her book Packing for Mars. She had raised the excellent point that women physically are better candidates for space travel, being of smaller stature and less weight meaning rocket fuel and food and oxygen and space can be conserved, but of course, what are reasonable arguments when sexism has worked so well for the established select-few.

Character question: was Jackie Cochran really as big a villain as portrayed here? Her villainy only stands out even more due to the fact she was an accomplished pilot who had had to fight against the same boys-club sexism. Her acceptance into these boys-club (mainly due to her riches/influences) and her way of pushing down other women reminded me a lot of Adrienne Rich's speech on the dangers of tokenism.

Story wise: It is a real shame that the women were tested individually/in pairs. Even though they are presented here as a group, they were in real life much more fragmented and less unified for the societal battle they had to fight. I imagine if there were ever to be a film version a la Hidden Figures though, liberties would absolutely be taken to have the ensemble together GLOW-style. Cue training montage. ( )

It took a little time to get going but once it found it's footting it was a very enjoyable read. I thought I knew about the Mercury 13 women but it turns out I knew very little. I had thought NASA has trained them but it was done almost entirely outside NASA. The women were highly skilled pilots in a time when very few women had extensive pilot experience and they voluntarily went through some of the testing that the Mercury 7 men went through until the plug was uncermoniously pulled on it. The book follows the testing and the attempts to get the program reinstated. It somewhat falters by introducing quite a few people early on and jumping around in time to set up the story but once it gets started the line of narrative settles down and it starts to hang together. It is very clear that the author deeply admires Jerrie Cobb and chooses to tell the story through her. It is a good choice in terms of narrative but the author doesn't appear to have been able to speak with Cobb (not sure if she was still alive at the time of writing) and Cobb was extremely introverted despite her role as the main face of the women astronauts. The author also sets up the conlfict of Cobb and Jackie Cochran clearly in Cobb's favour and it feels like the reader if being forced to take sides. Jackie Cochran comes off very badly indeed and it is hard to know if that is a completely accurate portrayal of her. Sometimes there are more questions left unanswered about her and the other women simply because the documentation is gone. Still, I really enjoyed reading this and realizing for the umpteenth time how very recently some (not all) of the barriers for women have come down.

This is an incredible story about women fighting not only to be astronauts and help our country beat the USSR in putting the first female in space, but also for equality during the civil rights era.
Their courage, determination, and strength should be an example for all of us. ( )