Sunday, July 06, 2003
Aborted Mercury 13 mission
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of Valentina Tereshkova's pioneering space flight, the BBC is carrying a story about the aborted mission to put US women into space earlier than Tereshkova. It was a couple of decades before Sally Ride eventually made it to space.
When Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, it signalled a shift in priorities in space missions that severely crippled the hopes of the Mercury 13. After the United States lost, as it were, the space race to the Soviets when Yuri Gagarin was launched into orbit, President John Kennedy set his sights on landing a man on the Moon," Ms Akman said. "He thought that that was a bigger prize than the space race, and a way for the United States to assert Cold War supremacy. "Women were viewed as complicating things and being unnecessary."
When Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space in 1961, it signalled a shift in priorities in space missions that severely crippled the hopes of the Mercury 13. After the United States lost, as it were, the space race to the Soviets when Yuri Gagarin was launched into orbit, President John Kennedy set his sights on landing a man on the Moon," Ms Akman said. "He thought that that was a bigger prize than the space race, and a way for the United States to assert Cold War supremacy. "Women were viewed as complicating things and being unnecessary."
