The First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs) were a group of 13 women selected for a privately funded program to select and train women to travel into space. Nicknamed the Mercury 13 in response to the group of men who would go into space, the Mercury 7, they actually never made it to space due to (surprise, surprise) the patriarchy.
In 1957, the USSR launched Sputnik, the first satellite to orbit in space, kicking off the great space race. Both countries were HIGHLY motivated to dominate space, sparing no expense and working at *astronomical* speeds to make it happen. After sending dogs and monkeys into space, the next great target was to send a human into space.
While it was originally thought that individuals with aviation and maritime experience would be best suited for the program, it was also postulated that people interested in extreme sports would be good candidates. President Dwight D. Eisenhower believed, and pushed for, military test pilots as the best candidates, as they had already trained for and passed rigorous training, pipelining the candidate pool for the astronaut program.
NASA’s Special Advisory Committee on Life Sciences, led by physician Dr. William Randolph “Randy” Lovelace (relation to Ada remains unclear but unlikely), began to formulate rigorous physical and mental tests to be performed on candidates for space travel. While screening male candidates, Dr. Lovelace was very interested in how women would do in space, believing their smaller size and lighter weight would be better suited for space travel.
Two of the greatest concerns plaguing NASA regarding human space travel included oxygen consumption and the impact of weight on drag effect during takeoff. Working with Air Force Brigadier General Don Flickinger, pilot Geraldyn “Jerrie” Cobb was the first woman to be recruited to the FLATs.
Cobb and Lovelace reviewed over 700 records for potential candidates, all pilots with over 1,000 flying hours, eventually settling on 25 individuals to be invited for testing. While an unofficial, non-sanctioned program, Dr. Lovelace was able to obtain funding through the very wealthy husband of famed pilot, Jackie Cochran.
Of the originally selected 25, 19 women were brought to Albuquerque for Phase I testing, completed over the spring and summer of 1961. Candidates underwent comprehensive physical exams (including a gyno exam??), X-rays, EKGs, & EEGs.
In total, 13 women passed the Phase I tests, comprising the Mercury 13: Myrtle Cagle, Jerrie Cobb, Janet Dietrich, Marion Dietrich, Wally Funk, Sarah Ratley, Janey Briggs Hart, Jean Hixson, Rhea Woltman, Gene Nora Jessen, Irene Leverton, Jerri Truhill, & Bernice Steadman.
Three of the women (Jerrie Cobb, Rhea Woltman, and Wally Funk) were able to go on to Oklahoma for Phase II testing, but some of the other candidates were unable to due to work or family obligations. Cobb was the only Mercury 13 candidate to complete and pass all three phases of testing, ranking in the top 2% of candidates OF ALL GENDERS.
Because the Mercury 13 were not an official program of NASA, Lovelace was denied access to the flight simulation facilities in Pensacola for his female candidates. On top of that, the Navy ordered a stop to Lovelace’s project, halting testing in Pensacola and bringing the FLATs program to a close.
Jerrie Cobb flew to DC to petition the reinstatement of FLATs and to try and make it an official program within NASA, working with Janey Hart to write to JFK and VP LBJ. Eventually House Rep Victor Anfuso (D-NY) convened a special subcommittee hearing in 1962, investigating the potential of GENDER DISCRIMINATION, which would later become illegal through the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“on the basis of sex,” anybody?)
Even after the passing of the Civil Rights Act, it took a 1972 amendment for women to be granted legal assistance to enter into space. Women would not be included in the official roster of NASA astronaut candidates until 1978 when the jet fighter pilot experience was no longer a qualification (Sally Ride).
Astroturds John Glenn and Scott Carpenter testified on behalf of NASA, stating women were not suitable candidates for the program since they did not meet eligibility criteria for completing military test pilot training and holding engineering degrees, EVEN THOUGH John Glenn admitted he earned a spot in the Mercury program without having the required education (so you go ahead and apply for that job even if you don’t meet all the required qualifications).
In a shocking and very unsisterly turn of events, Jackie Cochran testified AGAINST the reinstatement of FLATs, stating a large number of candidates would more than likely drop out because of “marriage, childbirth, and other causes.”
Because of the halt of the FLATs program, the USSR succeeded in putting the first woman in space, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, aged 26, who arguably was less qualified than any of the Mercury 13 members. Jerrie Cobb was quoted a day after Valentina’s space flight to say, “a shame that since we are eventually going to put a woman into space, we didn’t go ahead and do it first.” When Valentina later met Jerrie Cobb, she apparently told her that Jerrie had been her role model, asking, “we always figured you would be first. What happened?”
A very interesting note–because this was an unofficial, off-the-books program, these women were not brought in and tested as a group like the men, but rather individually or in pairs. Due to this, the original Mercury 13 never met in person as a group until 1994.
Despite the disappointing conclusion to the FLATs program, these brave women boldly paved the way for those who would go on to become official NASA astronauts (including previously-covered Rosie, Mae Jemison).
The women of Mercury 13 had absolutely no guarantee that they would ever get to go into space, but still chose to undergo rigorous, grueling training that pushed them to their physical and mental limits, because they believed their actions today would create a more equal tomorrow.