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This commentary ran in the following
papers: Atlanta Journal ConstitutionOct. 29, Miami HeraldNov.
1, Providence JournalOct. 29, Christian Science MonitorNov.
6, Anchorage Daily NewsNov. 3, Philadelphia InquirerNov.
2, Dayton Daily NewsNov. 3, Idaho StatesmanOct.
31, Boston GlobeNov. 9, Charlotte Observeron Oct.
31, and the Lexington (KY) Herald-LeaderNov. 8.
NASA'S SEXISM LOST IN NOSTALGIA OVER GLENN FLIGHT
by Martha Ackmann
No one will be following John Glenn
more this week than Jerrie Cobb. That's because following Glenn
is exactly what Cobb has always wanted to do. In 1961, after being
recruited by NASA and run through the same rigorous tests, Cobb--like
Glenn--was deemed exceptionally qualified for the young astronaut
program.
But unlike Glenn, she had her job snatched away just as she was
ready to launch into the final phase of training. At the eleventh
hour, NASA reconsidered and decided Cobb lacked the right stuff.
No woman, it seems--no matter how qualified--would be eligible for
the Mercury Program. Now 37 years later, Jerrie Cobb wants the opportunity
that NASA's sexism denied her.
Strikingly, few Americans remember or have even heard of the Mercury
13. They were a group of highly trained women aviators who were
called to Albuquerque in 1961 for secret tests to measure their
physical and mental fitness for spaceflight. A group of independent
scientists, the VA, representatives from the military, and NASA
were curious to see if women could hold up to the same grueling
tests men endured and evaluated Jerrie Cobb and 12 other women.
One of the most extreme tests measured if women could handle "profound
sensory isolation." Cobb was lowered into an 8-foot tank of warm
water. Called "the dog dip," the tank was located in a small airtight
room with thick steel walls: no sound, no smells, so stimulation
of any kind. While male astronauts were kept isolated in another
less extreme chamber for only three hours, Cobb endured nine hours
and 40 minutes in the tank without any occurence of hallucinations.
She later reported, "I did sneak a couple of naps."
Cobb and the other women did well--frankly better than evaluators
expected. Faced with the very real possibility of women competing
with men for a chance to orbit the earth, NASA slammed the door
shut.
The Mercury 13, many of whom had quit hard-won aviation jobs to
take part in the Albuquerque testing, were sharply disappointed.
Cobb, the first and the top candidate of the group, petitioned NASA.
After little response, she appealed to the US Congress in 1962 for
an official hearing on qualifications for astronauts.
After opening statements, Representative Victor Anfuso of New York
set the tone for the discussion that followed. "I think that we
can safely say . . . that the whole purpose of space exploration
is to some day colonize these other planets and I don't see how
we can do that without women," he declared to an audience erupting
in laughter.
Day two of the hearings was not much better for Cobb's cause. Brought
in to testify were NASA Director of Flight Missions, George Low,
and fresh from their triumphant solo flights, Scott Carpenter and
John Glenn. Women must be better-than, rather than equal-to men
was Glenn's position, underscoring the approach NASA had taken in
the "dog dip" test. He added, "The fact that women are not in this
field is a fact of our social order."
The committee swiftly concluded its work, advocating that all future
astronauts come from the ranks of military jet test pilots. Since
no women were allowed to train as test pilots, the policy officially
excluded Jerrie Cobb and the others from ever becoming astronauts.
The Mercury 13 dispersed to pick up their lives. Cobb quit her position
as an executive with an aviation firm and took a job flying food,
clothing, medicine, and personnel into the Amazon rainforest. Her
work to sustain the land and its indigenous peoples has occupied
her life and gained her respect for the last three decades.
With the announcement of Glenn's return to space, a movement has
surfaced to reacquaint the American public with the story of the
Mercury 13 and Jerrie Cobb's desire to be seriously considered for
an upcoming flight. So far NASA has offered only the coolest of
responses, indicating only a "fortunate few could represent us all."
During this week of so much nostalgia about the thrilling Mercury
flights of the 1960s and John Glenn's undeniable courage then and
now, we also must acknowledge that his place in our national imagination
comes at the cost of excluding others.
There is a danger in cloaking ourselves in a deluded romanticism
that recalls a simpler time when there were "true heroes" and hope
for the future. Seeking to replicate that past replicates its accompanying
sexism as well--a sexism that blocked the Mercury 13 from reaching
the future they had worked to secure and barred Jerrie Cobb from
offering the country the full measure of her character.
In denying her a chance in 1961 and again in 1998, NASA robs Jerrie
Cobb of her place in history. That discrimination takes from us
as well the soaring image of another hero who could represent us
all.
Martha Ackmann is a women's studies
professor at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts.
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