62-Breaking the Glass Ceiling

We will explore what might have been and what it was! We will look at the first six women selected as Astronauts; the first woman selected to Pilot and Command the Space Shuttle (STS); and the first woman to Command the International Space Station (ISS). Each was an extraordinarily brilliant and courageous woman, who opened doors for those who followed – their leadership and courage are commendable. Each was a highly qualified expert in her field who entered a male dominated profession and excelled and overcame several obstacles and challenges. Before these eight women, there was the Women in Space Program (WISP). The thirteen women were chosen and tested by William Randolph Lovelace, the man who originally helped to develop the tests for NASA’s Mercury Program in the early 1960s. The WISP was a privately funded project evaluating the fitness of women pilots for astronaut candidacy.