By Mary O’KEEFE

In June 1963, Valentina Tereshkova from Russia became the first woman in space. She spent about three days orbiting the Earth, completing 48 circuits. This was during the “space race” when Russia and the United States were in daily competition for space dominance. Even though the race of “firsts” was intense, the U.S. stepped back when it came to having women astronauts – but not due to a lack of qualified candidates. Prior to Tereshkova’s blast off, the United States had women who had passed the physical and psychological tests to join the space program, but were denied entry.

In 1960, 13 women were part of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, also known as Mercury 13. They went through the same training as the men of Mercury 7 did, but they were not officially part of NASA.

The story really begins with two men who thought, due to the small interiors of space capsules of the 1960s, a woman might actually fit better in the capsule. They were, after all, smaller and weighed less than men. So Dr. William Randolph Lovelace and Brig. General Donald Flickinger decided to explore this theory and invited the award-winning pilot Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb to undergo the physical regimen they had developed when selecting NASA astronauts.

Cobb passed those tests, ranking in the top 2% of all astronaut candidates, and became a media darling. Cobb had earned her private pilot’s license when she was 16 and her commercial license at 18. She was a certified ground instructor with rating in civil air regulations, navigation, meteorology, airframe and engines. Although her background was impressive, a lot of media attention was paid to her appearance, including her stepping out of her flight suit with her dress and pearls intact.

Because of her strong showing in the tests conducted at the Lovelace Clinic, the search was on for more women to see if they too could pass the tests. In the end, 13 women passed the invasive testing and were chosen to be in the lady astronauts program Mercury 13.

CV Weekly had the honor of interviewing one of the Mercury 13 women, Jerri Sloan Truhill, on several occasions. She shared stories of the days of the tests at the Lovelace Clinic, the way the women were treated and what it was like to be trained to be one of “the first.” She was proud of being chosen. She was impressed by all the women who were part of Mercury 13 and they formed a strong sisterhood. 

Truhill began to take flying lessons at age 15, without her parents’ knowledge. She was caught and sent off to Catholic school but that didn’t stop her and by 1960 she was one of the country’s most experienced pilots. She spoke about the physical and psychological tests at the Lovelace Clinic, which were not easy, but according to Truhill the women did not complain … at least not to Lovelace or the medical staff.

While their male counterparts were enjoying all the benefits one would think national heroes would be afforded – staying in the best hotels, driving Corvettes – the women stayed in what Truhill called “no tell motels” with very different surroundings. Space testing and other aspects of the program for the men were paid by the United States and NASA but the private sector paid for the women’s training, mostly backed by famous World War II pilot Jaqueline Cochran. In World War II, Cochran was the first woman to fly a bomber across the Atlantic Ocean, which led to the formation of the WASP (Women’s Airforce Service Pilots).

Truhill said the women always just did what was asked of them and they were so happy to be part of the space program they were willing to take whatever tests and do whatever it took to be part of history.

In interviews Cochran said she wanted to be one of the first women in space but she did not pass the tests the other 13 women did.

Truhill spoke of receiving a letter inviting her and the other Mercury 13 women to Pensacola, Florida to do flight tests. The women were very excited and Truhill said her bags were packed before she finished reading the letter. Then NASA found out what Lovelace was doing and did not want anything to do with women in space. The women soon received a letter telling them not to come and the program ended, having run for only a matter of months.

Cochran continued to encourage the women to stay in the fight, telling them the program may be brought back. Truhill said she continued to fly as much as she could, as did the others, and they kept their hopes up.

In 1962, Jerri Cobb and Jane Hart testified in front of a special subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics about women serving in the astronaut program in an effort to restart the program. When asked if Cobb felt there was discrimination against women as astronauts, she answered she didn’t think it was discrimination exactly, but rather that the rules had been established to make it impossible for women meet the qualifications to be an astronaut.

At the time, astronauts had to be test and fighter pilots – certified jet pilots – which women could not be. Though many people testified before Congress, none made more of an impact than John Glenn, who was a national hero for being the first man to orbit the Earth.

“It is just a fact,” he said. “The men go off and fight the wars and fly the airplanes and come back and help design and build and test them. The fact that women are not in this field is a fact of our social order.”

That was a blow to women, but then Cochran – the woman who had financed the Mercury 13 and who all 13 women felt at the time was their champion – took the stand and pulled the rug out from beneath them.

Cochran spoke of how expensive it would be to use women as opposed to men in the space program. She said it was “natural and proper” to select from male pilots, not female pilots.

“We do not want to slow down our program, and you are going to have to, of necessity, waste a great deal of money when you take a large group of women in because you lose them through marriage,” she testified.

That was the final nail in the coffin of Mercury 13. Shortly thereafter, Vice President Lyndon Johnson recommended to NASA, “Let’s stop this now!”

The Mercury women were honored by NASA and Eileen Collins, who was the first female commander of a space shuttle. Collins said if it weren’t for women like the Mercury 13, she would not be in the position of being the first female commander.

For more information, visit mercury13.com or history.nasa.gov. The First Lady Astronaut Trainees included: Jerrie Cobb, Wally Funk, Irene Leverton, Myrtle “K” Cagle, Jane B. Hart, Gene Nora Stumbough [Jessen], Jerri Sloan [Truhill]), Rhea Hurrle [Woltman], Sarah Gorelick [Ratley], Bernice “B” Trimble Steadman, Jan Dietrich, Marion Dietrich and Jean Hixson.

On a personal note, I was the one afforded the opportunity to interview and get to know on a personal basis Jerri Truhill. I never got the impression she was bitter. That’s not to say she did not have definite opinions of everyone involved in the women’s space program including Glenn and Cochran, but the program’s end was a pause, not a stop. She continued to fly, she participated in air races, and served as vice president for Air Freighters International and Air Services, Inc. I felt sad after one of our interviews in particular. I felt, as a woman, we were so cheated by not being allowed to get a chance. It was taken away not because of qualifications but because of gender. But Jerri made me look at things differently. She said she was disappointed in the way it ended, but it was a great opportunity she had been given to take those tests. She knew she and her fellow women astronauts had what it took to be part of the space program. That confidence and attitude that she didn’t have to prove anything to anyone has been a guiding example for me. 

Photo Courtesy of NASA

Members of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs), these seven women stand outside Launch Pad 39B near the Space Shuttle Discovery in this photograph from 1995. The so-called Mercury 13 was a group of women who trained to become astronauts for America’s first human spaceflight program in the early 1960s. Although FLATs was never an official NASA program, the commitment of these women paved the way for others who followed. Visiting the space center as invited guests of STS-63 Pilot Eileen Collins, the first female shuttle pilot and later the first female shuttle commander, are (from left): Gene Nora Jessen, Wally Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Rutley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman.