The
great Clare Boothe Luce championed them in Life
at a time when that magazine really meant something, but it was to no
avail. They privately trained for the American space program, passing many of
the same physical and psychological tests, but the fix was in to keep them out.
Although the thirteen women never trained as a unit like the original Mercury 7
astronauts, they still developed their own group identity. Their careers and
legacy are chronicled in David Sington & Heather Walsh’s documentary Mercury 13 (trailer here), which premieres
this Friday on Netflix.
Each
of the Mercury 13 were accomplished aviators. In fact, many of them were
veterans of the Women Airforce Service Pilots organization, who ferried combat
planes from the factory to wherever the military needed them, except the actual
combat zones. You could argue this made them something very much like test pilots,
but NASA rigidly used test pilot experience as a prerequisite to disqualify the
Mercury 13, even though such duties were not open to them.
When
telling the story of the 13, Jacqueline Cochran emerges as the Chuck Yeager
figure. Having achieved national stature as an aviator, Cochran convinced NASA
flight doctor and life science expert Dr. William Randolph Lovelace to start a
pilot program for prospective women astronauts at his private clinic. However,
she later undercut the program at a critical moment.
Several
of the surviving 13 lament what a great propaganda loss it was when the Soviet
launched the first woman into space with Valentina Tereshkova in 1963. Frankly,
she was more of a sporting figure than a real pilot or scientist, so any of the
13 would have made far more credible astronauts. There is no question they were
qualified pilots and when it comes to space travel, being smaller of stature is
a plus. However, there is a nagging hypothetical nobody dares to explore.
Suppose a woman astronaut had died in the Apollo 1 fire that killed Gus
Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee. The 13 were surely prepared to accept
such risks, but you have to wonder if the reaction of the flawed 1967 media could have
really set back the space program.
Regardless,
the 13 deserved more respect from their male colleagues and NASA would have
been much smarter if they had found high profile roles for them to play in the
program, but not a lot of observers accuse NASA of being overly intelligent
anymore. This is a fascinating story, but even at a highly-manageable seventy-eight
minutes, Mercury 13 is conspicuously
padded in places. If you enjoy footage of gliders, we have good news for you.
Even
though Sington, Walsh, and most of their interview subjects direct plenty of
criticism towards NASA, they are still obviously big believers in space exploration.
After all, they are arguing for greater and wider participation, rather than
less. That is why it is so frustrating to watch a space doc like this (or In the Shadow of the Moon, which Sington
also directed, or Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo, which Walsh co-produced) knowing we have allowed
our own space flight capabilities atrophy into nothing. Recommended for
providing a unique perspective on the Space Race, Mercury 13 starts streaming this Friday (4/20) on Netflix.
