THE SIX

The remarkable story of “the first six women astronauts NASA had ever chosen.”

Blazing a trail for others to follow is never easy, but the women featured in this book had it tougher than most. Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon were the first American women in space, and they had to fight every step of the way. Grush, a journalist specializing in space issues and the accompanying science, provides biographies of each, noting they had all been professionally successful before applying for the space program. The first generation of NASA astronauts had been military pilots, and a sexist culture had developed around their macho myth. It was only challenged with the development of the space shuttle program, which called for a broader recruitment strategy. Interestingly, Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek fame was enlisted to encourage applications from the public. It was successful, and in 1978, there were more than 8,000 people in the candidate pool. The training for the six was grueling, and the discrimination continued even after Ride became the first to get into space, in 1983. They often had to cope with being depicted as public relations novelties, but their outstanding performance across numerous missions eventually silenced the critics. Tragically, Resnik lost her life in the Challenger disaster. Looking back, it’s hard to believe that it took so long for women to be accepted by NASA. Even now, there are far fewer women than men in the program, but at least their presence in space is no longer seen as unusual. People who enjoyed Hidden Figures will find much to like in this book. Grush has an important story to tell, and she tells it well.

An inspiring story of the first American women to go into space, charting their own course for the horizon.