History Of Women Astronauts And The Space Shuttle On Exhibit At
IWASM
As NASA prepares for the final space shuttle mission, with
Atlantis scheduled to launch on July 8, the International Women's
Air & Space Museum (IWASM) is documenting the history of women
astronauts in the space shuttle program with the new exhibit,
"Rocket Girls: Women Astronauts & the Space Shuttle". To help
tell the story of the early women astronauts, IWASM has utilized
several comprehensive archival image discs made by Retro Space
Images. Each disc contains high resolution color and black &
white images in chronological order from NASA's archives,
contractors and other sources. Many of the images have been made
available publicly for the first time and allow museum visitors to
go behind the scenes and experience NASA's Space Shuttle Program
like never before. "Rocket Girls: Women Astronauts & the Space
Shuttle" is open through November 13, 2011.
Artifacts on display include a launch & entry suit (also
known as a "pumpkin" suit) worn by two women astronauts, a shuttle
tile and Space Shuttle tire. Also exhibited is a collection of
Space Shuttle memorabilia including commemorative patches, buttons,
& coins. Artifacts from various launches at Kennedy Space
Center are also included. Many of these items are from the
collection of Marcy Frumker, IWASM space historian and board
member. "With the retirement of the space shuttles in 2011 and the
last woman astronaut, Sandra Magnus, set to fly on the last mission
this summer, this seemed an appropriate time for IWASM to mount an
exhibit devoted to the women of the Space Shuttle Program," said
Frumker. "After the orbiters are retired, American astronauts will
have to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets to fly to the International
Space Station. Commercial U.S. rockets are in the offing, but until
they're rated for humans, fewer U.S. astronauts--men and
women--will be making their journeys into space."
Prior to the Space Shuttle Program, no women had ever flown in
space at NASA. In 1961 thirteen American women passed the same
astronaut tests performed on the Mercury 7 but never had an
opportunity to become astronauts. Two Russian women flew on Soviet
space vehicles in the 1960s & 1970s.
NASA selected its first group of women astronauts in 1978. For
the first time there was diversity in the astronaut corps. The
class of '78 was nicknamed "Thirty-Five New Guys" or TFNG since it
was the first group to include women and African Americans, and all
were chosen to fly on the brand new space shuttle vehicle. The
women astronauts of the Space Shuttle era followed various pathways
to the astronaut program. Some were pilots, medical doctors,
scientists, engineers and military officers. Shuttle astronauts,
unlike astronaut groups selected before them, were designated as
either pilot astronauts, mission specialists or payload
specialists. Pilot astronauts were those who flew the shuttle and
could become shuttle commanders. Mission specialists were more
generalists and were trained for robotics, spacewalks, and science
experiments. Payload specialists who flew on the shuttle were not
NASA selected astronauts but were selected by commercial or
research organizations for a specific payload.
The International Women's Air & Space Museum is located in
the Burke Lakefront Airport terminal building, 1501 N. Marginal
Road. Museum admission is free and exhibits are open 8:00 am - 8:00
pm daily. The Fay Gillis Wells Research Center and Gift Shop are
open 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. Monday through Saturday. The Joan L.
Hrubec Aviation Education Center is open daily for summer visitors
from 11:00 am - 4:00 pm.