Author Martha Ackmann speaks with former astronaut Eileen Collins and Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity representative Evett Turner at a luncheon during her visit to JSC.

A story nearly as old as NASA, yet known only to a relative few, was re-told at a special women’s history month event here at Johnson Space Center. Martha Ackmann, the author of The Mercury 13: The True Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight, visited the center to speak with astronauts, flight controllers and a packed auditorium at the Gilruth Center to share the story of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs).

Visiting Kennedy Space Center in 1995 as invited guests of STS-63 Pilot Eileen Collins are (from left): Gene Nora Jessen, Wally Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Ratley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman members of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees.

Who exactly are the FLATs or Mercury 13, as they would later be known? The group consisted of accomplished aviators Jerrie Cobb, Bernice Steadman, Janey Hart, Jerri Truhill, Rhea Woltman, Sarah Ratley, Jan and Marion Dietrich, Myrtle Cagle, Irene Leverton, Gene Nora Jessen, Jean Hixson, and Wally Funk.

During the time when the Mercury 7 astronauts were trailblazing new horizons in U.S. space exploration; these women were also preparing for space travel and trailblazing new horizons in women’s rights.

At the time only a few knew about the short-lived, secret project developed by head of NASA bioastronautics, Dr. William Lovelace, to determine if women could successfully complete the same physical and psychological tests that the Mercury 7 astronauts took in preparation for space exploration.

“I remember first reading about the story buried towards the back pages of a newspaper, which is where some of the best stories are hidden sometimes,” said Ackmann, a faculty member of the Gender Studies Department at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. “I was thunderstruck that I never heard the story before, especially growing up in St. Louis, which was one of the many cities across the nation that was caught up in space fever and also had the contract to develop the Mercury space capsule.”

	Jerrie Cobb, testing the Gimbal Rig in the Altitude Wind Tunnel in April 1960. The Gimbal Rig, formally called MASTIF or Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility, was used to train astronauts to control the spin of a tumbling spacecraft.

The FLATs persevered through numerous physically and mentally demanding challenges as well as invasive and uncomfortable examinations for the opportunity to be part of America's space program. Although the FLAT program was canceled before their dreams of spaceflight could be realized, their story persevered with the help of writers like Ackmann and would eventually pave the way for future women space explorers.

One astronaut that would benefit from the efforts of the Mercury 13 was Eileen Collins, the first female to pilot a space shuttle in 1995 as well as the first to serve as shuttle commander in 1999. The Mercury 13 has admitted a special kinship with Collins who in the 1995 finally fulfilled their dream of seeing the first American female pilot to fly in space. In recognition of their efforts, Collins invited the surviving members of the Mercury 13 to attend the launch and has since flown mementos for almost all of them.

Collins, who met with Ackmann during her visit, admitted she was glad she did not have to undergo the same challenges and discrimination the Mercury 13 faced in the 1960s.

“Mercury 13 captures a unique piece of history by telling a story that needed to be told,” said J. Milt Heflin, associate director (technical) at JSC. “Being from Oklahoma, I was very much aware of the ‘13’ and Jerrie Cobb … Martha's style of writing allowed me to get inside Jerrie's ‘head’ and see, as well as feel, some of her challenges during that period.”

More than 47 years later, the diverse audience who attended Ackmann’s presentation, as well as the diverse STEM workforce at JSC, demonstrates how the Mercury 13’s story and legacy live on today.

Author Martha Ackmann is presented a plaque by the Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity director Gloria Stiner and Mount Holyoke College Club of Houston president Jennifer Rochlis to commemorate her visit to JSC.

“Ackmann was the first in a planned speaker series to be hosted at JSC throughout 2008,” said Gloria Stiner, Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity director at JSC.