The Mercury 13 (Almost) Astronauts To Get Honorary Degrees

[johns805]

Hi: After all these years, I'm afraid this is the very first time I have seen that this was going on. NASA was preparing to train women for Project Mercury, but balked at the last minute. I just read about it at the CNN link below:<br /><br />http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/space/05/07/women.in.space.ap/index.html<br /><br />It was all very "Flintstones" back in those days. What a shame! There could have been a woman on the moon... Honorary degrees? They deserve much better than that. LEO at least. "Well, if we can land a man on the Moon, we can....." Best Regards! ~J<br />

 

[johns805]

Hi: Hmmm. Oh. About newsartist's second sentence asserting the lack of high performance test piloting time by all of the Mercury 13. It's not entirely true. In a follow up article from CNN, it was reported that Ms. Jerrie Cobb, one of the M13 was likely closer in the zone of the "requirements." In her 20's at the time , she set four world aviation records for speed, distance and absolute altitude....Those are not the attributes of a slouch. As for the other 12, like Ms. Cobb they passed the same tests given to the Mercury 7 with "flying colors" ...Where ever the details fall, in retrospect it's still a shame. I hope the ten survivors of the M13 will be able to tell their stories to the wider mass media as well as gatherings of the various space advocacy groups...~J

 

[thereiwas]

Training and experience aside, the Air Force instructor in the high altitude flying course I took said that female physiology was actually better than male at enduring hi-G forces. He had some video recordings from a centrifuge to back this up.

 

[bpcooper]

In light of what newsartist said, I would also recommend reading James Oberg's article on this today:<br /><br />http://www.thespacereview.com/article/869/1 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>-Ben</p> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

<In light of what newsartist said, I would also recommend reading James Oberg's article on this today:><br /><br />Hear! Hear!<br /><br />NASA did not have a female astronaut program which was canceled out of prejudice.<br /><br />Please people, don't let this urban legend get any farther than it has already! NASA didn't have any female program to cancel in the first place. These women were nothing more than a pet project pushed by private efforts, NASA had nothing to do with it, ever.

 

[ai_sci]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>"...said that female physiology was actually better than male at enduring hi-G forces....."<br /><br />Without question.<br /><br />I hope AiSci can weigh in on this with some hard facts. I think there was another major issue that females score highest on too. I think it had to do with temperature, but that is a very soft memory that needs checking.<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Overall, there are no significant differences in g-tolerance between male and female military pilots. There were some initial differences found, but these were attributable to g-suit fit, and body height. The g-suits were designed for males; when given redesigned g-suits, the differences went away. <br /><br />Pilot height was also a positive factor, because females are generally shorter than men, and shorter pilots generally have higher g-tolerance. When this factor was statistically controlled for, this difference went away.<br /><br />In centrifuge studies I ran or participated in, we were testing for spatial disorientation and/or motion sickness effects, and never took subjects higher than 3.5 g's. They were not specifically tested for g-tolerance. We did find a slightly lower female tolerance for motion sickness, barely significant, and it was suggested that it might be tied to the menstrual cycle. However, to determine that, we would have had to test a large number of female pilots, and there just wasn't that many in 1995. <br /><br />Here is a very readable article on these issues:<br /><br />Fast Women<br /><br />AI Sci <br /><br />Edited to add: Correction, we did do some g-tolerance studies, but were testing for long duration effects under relatively moderate g's (generally 2-3). I do not recall testing any females on these "flights". <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[ai_sci]

Here's another link that should work for you; scroll down to the bottom to get to the summary on g-tolerance:<br /><br />Military Aviation Physiology<br /><br />I had heard that female stunt pilots had a higher g-tolerance before I joined the Navy, and was surprised to find out that it was not true for female military pilots. It was thought to be perhaps due to the lower center of gravity of women, relative to height. Later research did not bear that out; it seems that the primary difference is average height of women relative to men. That gives them an edge.<br /><br />Initial studies of military female g-tolerance actually were showing the opposite: they had a small but significant lower tolerance. It turned out to be the poor fit of the g-suits. Change the fit, and the difference goes away.<br /><br />The FATE Project<br /><br />AI Sci<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

<No one is saying NASA had "a female astronaut program that was cancelled"><br /><br />Yeah, right.<br /><br />http://uplink.space.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=missions&Number=711056&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&vc=1<br /><br />http://uplink.space.com/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=missions&Number=712038&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=0&vc=1<br /><br />