The Mercury 13: Summary and book reviews of The Mercury 13 by Martha Ackmann, plus links to an excerpt from The Mercury 13 and a biography of Martha Ackmann.
The Mercury 13 The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight
by Martha Ackmann
Hardcover: Jun 2003,
256 pages.
Paperback: Jul 2004,
256 pages.
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.
Time - Lev Grossman
A revealing snapshot of a country simultaneously caught up in the romance of the future and snarled in the prejudice of the past.
USA Today - Steve Powers
... captures the women's personality and can-do attitudes perfectly, inspiring a blaze of righteous indignation in exposing small-minded male egos.
Library Journal - Jeffrey Beall
... despite the book's subtitle, this is not an untold story ... Stephanie Nolan's Promised the Moon The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race covers the same topic, and some of the 13 women, including Cobb, have published their autobiographies.
Publishers Weekly
... an utterly compelling book that deserves to be widely read well beyond the circles of the usual readers about the space program.
Booklist - Carol Haggas
... engrossing examination ... delivers both a stinging indictment of an intolerant society and a stirring endorsement of women whose valor and dedication remain inspirational.
Kirkus Reviews - Ellen Geiger/Curtis Brown
A shameful episode exposed with thoroughness and a graceful pen. Highly recommended for students of the space race and women’s issues alike.
William E. Burrows,author of This New Ocean The Story of the First Space Age
The Mercury 13 ought to be on the shelf next to The Right Stuff as a glaring and embarrassing counterpoint to the triumph of the boys’ club and its fighter jocks. Ackmann has done outstanding investigative reporting.
This extraordinary book captures the unique alchemy that brings a man to the forefront of his time.
These are 2 of the 5 readalike suggestions for The Mercury 13. Members have full access to all readalikes. If you are a member, please login. To find out more about membership, click here.
A bold, mesmerizing novel about the woman known as "Typhoid Mary," the first known healthy carrier of typhoid fever in the burgeoning metropolis of early twentieth century New York.
Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight...
read more
Although heavy on the scientific details, which slowed down the story for me (OK, I admit, I was one of those liberal arts majors who skipped out on...
read more
Loved this book. Magical, quirky, enchanting I could go on. All books do not have to be literary fiction, sometimes it is just so comforting to read...
read more
British Parliament asks Amazon to clarify why it pays $9 million in income tax on $23 billion of UK sales.(May 20 2013) Amazon will be called back to give further evidence to members of the British Parliament "to clarify how its activities in the U.K. justify its low corporate...
Full Story
Library Journal - Jeffrey Beall
Publishers Weekly
William E. Burrows,author of This New Ocean The Story of the First Space Age
