NASA Had Zero Plans To Send Women Into Space In The '60s

[ismnotwasm]

It seems a number of women have faced rejection from the aeronautical organization. At an event celebrating Amelia Earhart last year, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told the audience that she also received a rejection letter from NASA because of her gender.

"When I was about 13, I wrote to NASA and asked what I needed to do to try to be an astronaut," Clinton said. "And of course, there weren’t any women astronauts and NASA wrote me back and said there would not be any women astronauts. And I was just crestfallen."

At some point NASA changed its mind and Sally Ride became the first American woman sent to space in 1983. In this year's new class of NASA astronauts, 50% are women, which the agency said was the "highest percentage of female astronaut candidates ever selected for a class."

Who would have thought it! Women in space! Doing a man's (snort) job. My how times have changed.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/nasas-rejection-letter-to-women-in-the-60s-2013-7#ixzz2YpuatJGR

[hlthe2b]

1. Since virtually NO medical research was focused on women

until NIH was forced to broaden guidelines in 1990, somehow I'm not surprised.

We may have come a "long way," but damn, we have an infinite distance yet to traverse.

[ismnotwasm]

2. Yup

That was about what I was thinking-- long road ahead still.

[BainsBane]

3. I can't say this surprises me

[One_Life_To_Give]

4. A year before the Equal Pay Act

Occurring at a time when most employers had two official wage scales. (male and female)
Women wearing pants was still restricted in schools and the workplace. And any man's word was given precedence over what any woman might say.

Knowing the period I would of been more surprised had they accepted a woman for astronaut training or as a firefighter, police, construction or any of hundreds of other jobs closed to women at that time.

[freshwest]

5. Gawd! It was so tiresome hearing that all the time in the 50s, 60s and 70s. Then the EEOC came along

and kicked some major ass.

Now we have the GOP wanting us to 'go back to the good old days.'

I say to them and all of their enablers, 'go back to hell.'



That sort of sting isn't forgotten.