03/06/2024
Remembering one of the Mercury Thirteen,,,
Jerrie Cobb, the groundbreaking aviator and NASA's first female astronaut candidate, was born on this day in 1931. Cobb was one of the Mercury 13 "almost astronauts," a group of women who went through the same psychological and physical screening as the male astronauts of NASA’s Mercury 7. Although Cobb was an accomplished pilot and excelled in all three phases of astronaut testing, she was denied the opportunity to become one of the country's first astronauts because only men were deemed fit for space exploration.
Following in her pilot father's footsteps, Cobb earned her private pilot's license by age 17 and her commercial license a year later. By 19, she was teaching other new pilots how to fly and, at 21, she was delivering military fighters to allied Air Forces worldwide. However, skepticism about women pilots and a glut of qualified male pilots, veterans of World War II, meant that Cobb couldn't get prestigious flying jobs. Despite these obstacles, Cobb set new world records for speed, distance, and absolute altitude while in her 20s. She was awarded the Amelia Earhart Gold Medal of Achievement and became the first woman to fly in the Paris Air Show; after which she was named pilot of the year.
By the late 1950s, NASA was testing male pilots as potential astronaut candidates. The tests had been designed by physician William Randolph Lovelace II and he was curious to find out how women would respond. Since NASA refused to pursue the matter, Lovelace arranged private funding and began seeking candidates. Thirteen women, including Cobb, passed the physical screening and intended to go on to psychological and aeronautics screenings. Cobb not only passed all three phases but ended up in the top 2% of all candidates -- male or female -- evaluated.
In 1963, Cobb flew to Washington, D.C. to argue the case of the women candidates in front of a subcommittee of the House Committee on Science and Astronautics. Her arguments were countered by several male astronaut candidates, including John Glenn, who said that male-only astronauts were “a fact of our social order.” The committee affirmed the prohibition on women in the space program; Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova would go on to become the first woman in space only a few months later.
With her hopes of going to space gone -- NASA did not open the astronaut program to women until 1978 -- Cobb spent the next thirty years flying humanitarian aid missions in South America. In 1981, she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her aid work. Cobb long hoped that she could fulfill her dream of going to space. In 1999, the National Organization of Women urged NASA to send her into orbit -- like they did with John Glenn -- to study the effects of space and aging. If the opportunity were offered, Cobb, who died last year at the age of 88, said she would take it: “I would give my life to fly in space,” she said during the campaign. “It’s hard for me to talk about it but I would. I would then, and I will now.”
For two fantastic books for young readers about the courageous women of Mercury 13, we highly recommend "To Fly Among the Stars: The Hidden Story of the Fight for Women Astronauts" (https://www.amightygirl.com/to-fly-among-the-stars) and “Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared To Dream” (https://www.amightygirl.com/almost-astronauts), both for ages 10 and up
Jerrie Cobb is among the 50 amazing women of space featured in the illustrated biography, "Galaxy Girls," for ages 7 to 12 at https://www.amightygirl.com/galaxy-girls
For an inspiring book about the Mercury 13 program for adult readers, we recommend "The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight" at https://www.amightygirl.com/the-mercury-13
For a book about Jerrie Cobb for adult readers, we recommend "Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race" at https://www.amightygirl.com/promised-the-moon
There is also an excellent book for adult readers about Jerrie Cobb and her fellow aviation pioneer Jacqueline Cochran: "Fighting For Space" at https://www.amightygirl.com/fighting-for-space
And to inspire the space-loving Mighty Girls in your life, you can find more books about mighty women of space and space-themed toys in our blog post "Reach for the Stars!" at https://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=16848
