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Emma Scales
Mar 18, 20195 min read

Right Stuff, Wrong Gender

Updated: Mar 22, 2019


Figures released by NASA in 2016 highlighted that out of a total of 537 people who have travelled to space, 61 have been female, that's just 11%; but are women better suited for space flight? Scientific testing during the early days for the space program indicated they were; so why did NASA ground women astronauts in favour of men?


The Mercury Seven were America's first astronauts, they were an all male group who were selected after rigorous psychological and physical testing in a clinical environment, they also needed to meet the following criteria;

  • Must be a graduate or trained as part of an aviation or test pilot school with 1,500 hours of flight time

  • Qualified in jet aircraft

  • Engineering background

  • 5ft 11" or less

During the same time in 1959 NASA's chief medical advisor Randy Lovelace decided to run his own 'secret' privately funded series of tests and worked with a group of women; thirteen of which passed and were deemed fit for astronautical duty, these were loosely named the 'Mercury 13'. A recent Neflix Original documentary investigates the group and how the 'almost astronauts' helped America win the space race, without having the privilege of leaving Earth.

'Mercury 13' a 2018 documentary created and currently available on Netflix

Lovelace believed that women had a significant role to play in space exploration and the tests proved his theory, most scored higher than their male counterparts, and the tests demonstrated that women were less susceptible to heart attacks, had a higher threshold for pain, noise and extreme temperatures, they were also smaller, weighed less and required less oxygen therefore making them more economical and physically suitable for space travel.


(Photos courtesy of NASA)


However, NASA did not wish to continue with the female astronaut program and disbanded the testing in 1961, shortly before they sent the first man, Alan Shepard into space. Women astronauts would have to wait another 22 years, when in 1983, Sally Ride became the first American female to travel into space on the shuttle Challenger, she also became the youngest astronaut to enter space at just 32 years. Sally overcame many barriers to achieve her goal, she was a great believer in that her success was down to hard work being able to learn new things, analyse information quickly and most importantly to be able to get along and work with others whilst treating everyone as an equal.


"I didn't succumb to the stereotype that science wasn't for girls" ~Sally Ride

Although only traveling into space twice during her lifetime, Sally continued to inspire future astronauts to achieve their goals through education programmes and through her children's books on space.


"If we want scientists and engineers in the future, we should be cultivating the girls as much as the boys." ~ Sally Ride

Russia on the other hand seemed to have a more progressive approach to females and sent their first female cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova into space aboard 'Vostok 6' on 16th June 1963, where she spent 3 days orbiting the earth 48 times before landing back on earth. Tereshkova was selected out of four other female cosmonauts trained in the Russian space program, she was selected not for her piloting abilities (of which she had non) but for her 126 parachute jumps she had taken part in, due to the fact that at the time the cosmonauts were expected to parachute out of the capsule seconds before landing on earth. Although this was to be Tereshkova 's only visit to space her achievement has lived on and still proves to be an inspiration today's aspiring astronauts.


(photo courtesy of NASA)
"If women can be railroad workers in Russia, why can't they fly in space?" ~ Valentina Tereshkova


So, what does the future look like for equality in space?


The hidden figures behind some of NASA's biggest achievements have only recently been acknowledged for their contributions, gender was not the only barrier they had to overcome, race was also a blockade in their way during an era of segregation and intolerance;


Katherine Johnson, a gifted mathematician was recruited in in 1953, by a small group at Langley Research Centre of "human computers” to perform complex calculations the early mechanical computers were unable to process. Katherine worked in the aeronautical department for calculations, under the supervision and direction of Dorothy Vaughan.


Dorothy Vaughan, was the first African American female to supervise the human computer team.


Mary Jackson also worked within this team and went on to become NASA's first female engineer.


After a few weeks of working within the department Johnson and the rest of the team transferred to the Flight Research Division, where they would be later tasked with assisting NASA win the space race, Johnson calculated trajectories for landing spacecrafts and she was part of the team which saw Apollo 11 land on the moon.


The intelligence and impact these women had have been hidden from general knowledge for decades but they were finally given the recognition they deserved in 2015 when they were all given the 'Presidential Medal of Freedom' by Barrack Obama, Katherine Johnson collected her award in person at the age of 97 simply stating;

"It was my job, and I did my job correctly—and well.”

Positive strides are beginning to be taken towards equality within the space industry. NASA's current training team for the Mars expeditions is split equally with both male and female astronauts. Around 6,100 signed up for the programme with just eight successfully completing the rigorous training and testing, four of which were female;


"If we go to Mars, we'll be representing our entire species in a place we've never been before. To me it's the highest thing a human being can achieve," astronaut candidate Anne McClain


Will these be the first people on Mars? (photo courtesy of NASA)

This is a very positive step forward towards equality which will inspire younger generations to think 'outside the stereotypes'; who knows by the time we land on Mars gender may not be a category or issue, it may be seen as the first 'Human' on Mars rather than man or woman.


The lack of equality in space has been a big influence in the 'Be Anything Do Anything' project and the exhibition will include art works inspired by space from a wide age range of children.



 


Further reading and references;


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