Mercury 13 facts for kids

Jerrie Cobb with a Mercury capsule (around the early 1960s)

Mercury 13 astronaut Wally Funk flew into space on July 20, 2021

The Mercury 13 were a group of thirteen American women. They were part of a private program. These women successfully passed the same health tests as the male astronauts chosen by NASA in 1959 for Project Mercury. The name "Mercury 13" was created in 1995. It compared these women to the "Mercury Seven" male astronauts. The Mercury 13 women were not part of NASA's official astronaut program. They never flew in space on a NASA mission. They also never met as one whole group.

In the 1960s, some of these women tried to convince the White House and Congress. They wanted women to be included in the astronaut program. They spoke before a special committee in 1962. Clare Boothe Luce wrote an article for LIFE magazine. It talked about the women and criticized NASA for not including them.

One of the thirteen women, Wally Funk, flew into space on July 20, 2021. She went on a short flight with Blue Origin's New Shepard 4 mission. At 82 years old, she became the oldest woman to travel to space.

The Start of the Program

When NASA first planned to send people to space, they looked for certain types of people. They thought pilots, submarine crews, or explorers from the Arctic or Antarctic would be best. They also considered people who did extreme sports like parachuting or deep-sea diving.

NASA knew many people would apply. Testing everyone would be very expensive. President Dwight D. Eisenhower believed military test pilots were the best choice. These pilots had already passed tough government tests and training. This changed the rules for who was chosen to go to space at first.

William Randolph Lovelace II was a flight surgeon and later a NASA advisor. He helped create the tests for NASA's male astronauts. He became curious about how women would do on the same tests. In 1960, Lovelace and Air Force General Don Flickinger invited Jerrie Cobb. She was a very skilled pilot. They asked her to take the same difficult tests as the men.

Lovelace was a medical doctor. He had done the physical tests for NASA's official program. He was able to pay for this unofficial program. He invited about 25 women to take the physical tests. Lovelace wanted to see how women's bodies would react to space. This program was kept secret. The Mercury 13 were not written about in major newspapers. But they were not completely unknown.

Cobb was the first American woman to pass all three phases of testing. She was the only one of the Mercury 13 to do so. Lovelace and Cobb then found 19 more women to take the tests. The husband of famous pilot Jacqueline Cochran paid for these tests. Thirteen of these women passed the same tests as the Mercury 7 men. Some were not allowed to continue due to brain or heart issues. The results were announced in Stockholm, Sweden, on August 18, 1960.

Who Were the Candidates?

All the women candidates were very experienced pilots. Lovelace and Cobb looked at the records of over 700 women pilots. They only invited women with more than 1,000 hours of flying experience. Some women might have been found through the Ninety-Nines. This is a group for women pilots that Cobb was also a part of. Some women heard about the chance from friends.

Jerrie Cobb called this group of women the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs). They accepted the challenge to be tested for this research program.

Wally Funk wrote that because the testing was secret, not all the women knew each other. It was not until 1994 that ten of the Mercury 13 met for the first time.

The Difficult Tests

Doctors did not know everything about space conditions. So, they had to guess what tests would be needed. These tests included normal X-rays and full body check-ups. But some were very unusual. For example, the women had to swallow a rubber tube to check their stomach acid. Doctors used electric shocks to test the reflexes in their forearms. To make them feel dizzy, ice water was put into their ears. This froze the inner ear so doctors could time how fast they recovered. The women rode special stationary bicycles until they were exhausted. This tested their breathing. They went through many more uncomfortable tests.

The Thirteen Women

In the end, thirteen women passed the first phase of physical exams. These were the same tests used for NASA's male astronauts. The thirteen women were:

• Myrtle Cagle
• Jerrie Cobb
• Janet Dietrich
• Marion Dietrich, twin sister of Janet Dietrich
• Wally Funk
• Sarah Gorelick (later Ratley)
• Jane "Janey" Briggs Hart
• Jean Hixson
• Rhea Woltman
• Gene Nora Stumbough (later Jessen)
• Irene Leverton
• Jerri Sloan (later Truhill)
• Bernice Steadman

Jane Hart was the oldest at 41. She was a mother of eight children. Wally Funk was the youngest at 23. Marion and Janet Dietrich were twin sisters.

More Tests and Cancellation

A few women took more tests. Jerrie Cobb, Rhea Hurrle, and Wally Funk went to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. There, they did Phase II testing. This included an isolation tank test and mental evaluations. Not all the women could take these tests because of family or job duties. Cobb then passed the Phase III tests. These were advanced medical exams using military planes and equipment. The group then got ready to go to Pensacola, Florida. They were to continue testing at the Naval School of Aviation Medicine. Two women even quit their jobs to go.

However, a few days before they were to report, the women received telegrams. The Pensacola testing was suddenly canceled. The United States Navy would not let them use its facilities. This was because there was no official request from NASA to run the tests.

Funk also completed most of the third phase of testing. But she did this on her own, not as part of a program. Cobb passed all the training exercises. She ranked among the top 2% of all astronaut candidates, both men and women.

Even with the women's great test results, NASA did not choose any women astronauts for many years. In 1963, the Soviet Union sent the first woman to space. This was after Yuri Gagarin's flight in 1961. But the men who spoke at the hearing were not motivated to change. They saw any threat to America's space schedule as a problem.

• Nineteen women took astronaut fitness exams at the Lovelace Clinic.
• Unlike NASA's male candidates, who tested in groups, the women did their tests alone or in pairs.
• The women passed these tests secretly. At the same time, the country was focused on John Glenn, Alan Shepard, and the other Project Mercury astronauts.

Hearing on Gender Fairness

When the Pensacola testing was canceled, Jerrie Cobb immediately went to Washington, D.C.. She tried to get the testing program started again. She and Janey Hart wrote to President John F. Kennedy. They also visited Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson. Finally, on July 17 and 18, 1962, Representative Victor Anfuso held public hearings. These were before a special committee. It was important because the hearings looked into gender discrimination. This was two years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made such actions illegal.

Cobb and Hart spoke about how good Lovelace's private project was. Jacqueline Cochran mostly disagreed with their statements. She worried that a special program for women might hurt the space program. She suggested a large group of women be trained. But she expected many to quit due to "marriage, childbirth, and other causes."

NASA representatives George Low and Astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter said women could not be astronauts under NASA's rules. Glenn also believed that "The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order." They correctly stated that NASA required astronauts to be military jet test pilots and have engineering degrees. However, John Glenn admitted he was assigned to Project Mercury without a college degree. In 1962, women were not allowed in Air Force training schools. So, no American women could become military jet test pilots.

Several Mercury 13 women were civilian test pilots. Many had much more propeller plane flying time than the male astronauts. But NASA would not count their hours in propeller planes as equal. It was thought that training in jet and rocket planes, like the X-15, would be best for spacecraft. Jan Dietrich had 8,000 hours, Wally Funk 3,000 hours, Irene Leverton over 9,000, and Jerrie Cobb 10,000. Some committee members felt bad for the women because of this unfairness. But no action was taken.

Liz Carpenter, an assistant to Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, wrote a letter to NASA leader James E. Webb. It questioned these rules. But Johnson did not send the letter. Instead, he wrote on it, "Let's stop this now!"

The Pilot Problem

The rules for future astronauts were a big debate after NASA started in 1958. It made sense for astronauts to be pilots, especially test pilots. They could train and learn to fly new aircraft. The general agreement was to choose military jet test pilots. Women were not allowed in this field at the time. So, they were automatically left out. However, NASA also required astronauts to have college degrees. John Glenn of the Mercury 7 group did not have one. He left college to join the Navy during World War II. This shows NASA sometimes made exceptions to its rules.

The bigger issue was about social order. Change was needed for women to be considered. But those who benefited from their gender-supported positions secretly fought against it. There was little support for women's skills, strength, or intelligence for the astronaut role. This was true even with evidence showing they had these qualities. NASA had concerns during the space race. These included oxygen use and weight for takeoff. After their successful tests, the FLATs no longer had to prove their physical and mental fitness. They were trying to convince NASA that women had a right to be astronauts, just like men. It was not until 1972 that a change to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 finally helped women legally enter space. By 1978, the jet fighter pilot rule was no longer a problem for women. That year, NASA had its first class with women. They were allowed in as a new type of astronaut, called a mission specialist.

Media Attention

Lovelace's private women's testing project got new attention. This happened when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963. In response, Clare Boothe Luce wrote an article in Life. She criticized NASA and American leaders. She included photos of all thirteen Lovelace finalists. This made their names public for the first time. On June 17, 1963, New York Times published Jerrie Cobb's comments. After the Soviet launch, she said it was "a shame that since we are eventually going to put a woman into space, we didn't go ahead and do it first."

Many newspaper articles, films, and books have been made about the Mercury 13. But they were never front-page news or the main story on TV. Those against women training as astronauts made it seem like women were either "patient" or "impatient" about America's space race success.

The media often showed the women as not good enough. They said women were too weak and emotional to handle the tough conditions men could. On July 17, 1962, a hearing was held for Jerrie Cobb's and Jane Hart's statements. The book Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream explains these hearings. It talks about the women's statements and how reporters covered them. Their statements questioned the unfairness against women. They argued that women's talents should not be judged before they even start, just because they are not men. The book included a photo of Jerrie Cobb and Jane Hart at the witness stand. This photo had a big impact on future women astronauts. A writer for The Dallas Times Herald even asked Vice President Johnson to let women "wear pants and shoot pool, but please do not let them into space."

First American Female Astronaut

Seven surviving FLATs at the STS-63 launch (1995). (from left): Gene Nora Jessen, Wally Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Ratley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman.

Both Cobb and Cochran tried for years to restart a women's astronaut testing project. But the U.S. space agency did not choose any female astronaut candidates until Astronaut Group 8 in 1978. This group chose astronauts for the Space Shuttle program. Astronaut Sally Ride became the first American woman in space in 1983 on STS-7. Eileen Collins was the first woman to pilot the Space Shuttle during STS-63 in 1995. Collins also became the first woman to command a Space Shuttle mission during STS-93 in 1999. In 2005, she commanded NASA's return to flight mission, STS-114.

Collins invited seven of the surviving Lovelace finalists to her first launch. Ten of the FLATs attended her first command mission. She has also flown small items into space for almost all of them. BBC News reported that if it were not for the rules that stopped them, the first woman in space could have been an American.

Collins spoke about becoming an astronaut: "When I was very young and first started reading about astronauts, there were no female astronauts." She was inspired by the Mercury astronauts as a child. By the time she was in high school and college, more chances opened up for women in aviation. Collins then joined the Air Force. During her first month of training, her base was visited by the newest astronaut class. This class was the first to include women. From that moment, she knew that "I wanted to be part of our nation's space program. It's the greatest adventure on this planet – or off the planet, for that matter. I wanted to fly the Space Shuttle."

Other Important Influences

The first woman in space was Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova. She was arguably less qualified than the FLATs. She had no pilot or scientist training. When she met Jerrie Cobb, Tereshkova told her she was her role model. She asked, "we always figured you would be first. What happened?"

Honors and Awards

• In May 2007, the eight surviving members of the group received special doctorates from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.
• The Mercury 13 were given the Adler Planetarium Women in Space Science Award in 2005.
• Jerrie Cobb was recognized in Clare Boothe Luce's Life article. It highlighted her many flying awards and four major world records.
  • In 1959, she set the world record for the longest nonstop flight. She also set a record for light-plane speed.
  • In 1960, she was recognized for the altitude record of a lightweight aircraft. It flew at about 37,010 feet.
• On July 1, 2021, Blue Origin announced that Wally Funk would fly to space. She was on the first crewed flight of New Shepard. Funk, at 82, flew on July 20, 2021. She became the oldest person to fly to space.

Books About the Group

• Amelia Earhart's Daughters: the Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age, by Leslie Haynsworth and David Toomey
• Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program by Margaret A. Weitekamp
• The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight by Martha Ackmann
• Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream by Tanya Lee Stone
• Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race by Stephanie Nolan
• Wally Funk's Race for Space: The Extraordinary Story of a Female Aviation Pioneer by Sue Nelson
• Women in Space: 23 Stories of First Flights, Scientific Missions, and Gravity-Breaking Adventures (Women of Action) by Karen Bush Gibson
• Fighting for Space: Two Pilots and Their Historic Battle for Female Spaceflight by Amy Shira Teitel

Past and Present Similarities

"Before Their Time"

Thinking back to 1962 and the Mercury 13, astronaut Scott Carpenter said, "NASA never had any intention of putting those women in space. The whole idea was forced upon it, and it was happy to have the research data, but those women were before their time."

The United States Air Force would not test women for high-altitude flight. This was because they lacked pressure suits in the correct sizes. Their answer to the first tests of female astronauts was that women could not become astronauts "because they had nothing to wear."

In March 2019, NASA announced the first all-female spacewalk. It was planned for March 29 at the International Space Station. Anne McClain and Christina Koch were supposed to make history. But problems came up because there were not enough spacesuits. NASA has had issues with spacesuit sizes. They claim suits only come in medium, large, and extra-large. In the 1990s, NASA stopped making small spacesuit sizes due to technical problems. This greatly affected women astronauts and led to the spacewalk's cancellation. The long-delayed first all-female spacewalk finally happened on October 18, 2019. Koch and Jessica Meir completed the task.

See also

In Spanish: Mercury 13 para niños