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Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program
ISBN 0801883946
By Margaret A. Weitekamp
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2006, $25
Think of America's “First Women in Space” program during the early 1960s like this: you light the fuse of what promises to be spectacular fireworks, stand back ready to admire – and absolutely nothing happens. No launch, no dazzle, no show. You don't know what to make of it. Did it fizzle? It is a dud? Is it dangerous? Will it explode without warning? What do we do with it?
Historian Margaret A. Weitekamp knows exactly what to do with such an incendiary story. Weitekamp writes a solidly researched, fact-driven account of the brief flameout known as the Women in Space program in her book, “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex.” After winning the 2005 Literature Award from the American Astronautical Society, the book has been issued in paperback by its publisher. This is a welcomed edition, as the hardback predecesor was priced at a rather prohibitive $45 cover price.
As a curator of the Division of Space History at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., Weitekamp is particularly qualified to explain this tension of gender politics in the U.S.-Soviet space race. As a storyteller, she is savvy enough to follow the money as it leads to the apogees and perigees of the quest.
With the end of World War II, the U.S. government saw no value in space research expenditures. “Fearful of an economic downturn as the wartime economy made the transition back to peacetime production,” Weitekamp writes, “government officials hesitated to spend money on research into otherworldly pursuits such as space travel. Although resistance to space research existed well before 1952, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower an especially hostile environment took hold.” Such research was dismissed as “Buck Rogers nonsense.” Weitekamp cites a 1957 speech given by the ranking General of the Ballistic Missile Division “emphasizing the importance of space supremacy for national security. The next day he received a wire from the Pentagon requesting that he not use the word space in his speeches.”
Scientific curiosity was not quelled and during this era, many researchers volunteered themselves as guinea pigs. One such true believer was Dr. William Randolph “Randy” Lovelace II, a key character in Weitekamp's history. Lovelace personally performed a record breaking 40,000 foot parachute jump to test his own invention – an oxygen mask – at extreme bailout speeds and altitudes. The blast of freezing atmosphere tore off his protective gear and knocked him unconscious for much of the descent, proving that astronauts did not have a monopoly on the right stuff.
The 1957 Soviet launch of Sputnik opened the spigots of government space spending full bore, but it wasn't until President Kennedy's 1961 mandate to send and retrieve a man from the moon prior to 1970 that the spending was directed in a cohesive manner. Dr. Lovelace was one of the few visionaries who foresaw women in space and he began physical and psychological screening tests of female pilots at his renowned clinic in anticipation of providing qualified candidates. But the military powers of the day and NASA would not underwrite programs testing women. Such activity was seen as a diversion of, not an adjunct to the Mercury/Gemini/Apollo progression.
Enter famous pilot Jacqueline Cochran – another of Weitekamp's primary characters. Not only did Ms. Cochran hold many aviation records, she owned a line of cosmetics and perfume and was known to remain in her airplane cockpit applying lipstick after an air race for the benefit of photographers. Ms. Cochran directed much of her personal wealth toward Dr. Lovelace's program with the caveat that she be recognized as the squadron leader, so to speak. Author Weitekamp does a deft job of portraying Cochran's ego as big as all outdoors.
It is important to note that in the heat of the space race, the United States scrambled to answer all of the Soviet Union's space “firsts” except for one. The U.S. played catch-up when it came to the first object in space, the first animal, the first human, the first to orbit, the first rendezvous, the first space walk and other challenges, but when it came to matching the first woman in space, the U.S. said it wasn't interested. The domestic confusion over a female space traveler was evident in the weird list of euphemisms appearing in the news: “astro-nette,” “astronautrix,” “feminaut” and the popular “space girl.” Therefore, the Soviet Union's Valentina Tereshkova held the record as the only woman in space for some 20 years since her launch in 1963.
“Right Stuff, Wrong Sex” is published by Johns Hopkins University Press as part of its Gender Relations in the American Experience academic series. While there is no doubt that Weitekamp is an advocate of women's rights, she is a level-headed advocate. Her judiciousness is most evident in her handling of Jerrie Cobb, one of the more difficult characters in this tale. Cobb was one of the first female volunteers to pass the same medical and psychological tests as those administered to the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts. She had ample flying hours in prop planes, but because she lacked the requisite jet flight experience, she was never considered as a NASA candidate. Cobb persisted as a vocal thorn in the side of NASA and the agency ultimately co-opted her by making her a consultant to the program who was never consulted. Weitekamp handles Cobb's ultra Christian zealotry admirably and suggests that Cobb's own tendency to lose touch with political reality was her undoing.
Weitekamp is the rare historian who sees the big picture as well as the fine detail. Leave it to Weitekamp to put Jerrie Cobb's 1962 testimony before a congressional subcommittee on Science and Astronautics in perspective. During the course of giving testimony regarding gender discrimination in the space program, Cobb slipped off her high heel pumps under the witness table. A keen eyed UPI wire service photographer snapped a shot of Cobb in her stocking feet and many news services ran the photo. Weitekamp writes, “Similar shots, which distracted from the substance of a woman's contributions by focusing on a momentary slip of etiquette, had been used for years to make military women and other women who challenged traditional men's realms look ineffective. The shot undercut Cobb's message about women's competence.”
Come to think of it, many twentieth century figures have been defined by their shoes. The photograph of Adlai Stevenson with a hole in his sole nailed him as the proverbial absent minded and penurious professor. Broadway Joe Namath introduced new gridiron talent when he wore white shoes on the football field, as flashy as spats. Imelda Marcos faced international shame when her closet revealed surfeit for the feet. Given such context, this fine detail identified by Weitekamp isn't so incidental after all. “Right Stuff, Wrong Sex” will have you thinking on all sorts of levels.
Hope Solo (born 30 July 1981, in Richland, Washington) is an American Football goalkeeper currently playing for Saint Louis Athletica of Women's Professional Soccer and is a member of the United States women's national Football team.
Here is a site for Hope Solo fans. Pics, videos, news and all other stuff.
Soccer career
Hope Solo played Football with the Three-River's Football Club in the Tri-Cities. She played forward until the end of high school, when she switched to goalkeeper. Solo played for various U.S. junior national Soccer teams before joining the full U.S. national team in 2000. She was named a member of the Olympic team in 2004, getting the 2004 Olympics in Athens as an alternate. Hope Solo became the team's starting goalie in 2005. She has recorded several clean sheets and once went 1,054 minutes without allowing a goal (a streak that ended in a 4-1 victory against France in the Algarve Cup).
As a forward in high school, Hope Solo scored 109 goals, leading her team to three consecutive league titles from 1996-1998 and a state championship in her senior year. She was twice named a Parade All American.
At the University of Washington, Solo switched to the goalie place and was the team's all-time leader in clean-sheets, saves, and goals-against average (GAA). She was a 4-time All-Pac-10 pick and a three-time NSCAA All-American.
Following her college career, Hope Solo was drafted for the now defunct WUSA team Philadelphia Charge in 2003. She also played for Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of Göteborg, Sweden in the Swedish Premier Division in 2004 and for Olympique Lyonnais in the French First Division in 2005.
On September 16, 2008, Hope Solo was one of the three players drafted for Saint Louis Athletica in the WPS allocation of national team members, with the new league (a revival of the WUSA) starting play in April 2009. Solo let in 6 goals in the first four games as Athletica got off to a very slow 0-2-2 start in their first season, but she (and the rest of the team) stepped up after that, with Solo only letting in eight goals in her next thirteen games, finishing the season with eight shutouts.
In 2009 was named the WPS netkeeper of the Year.
2007 FIFA Women's World Cup
Hope Solo was the starting goalie for the United States in the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, giving up two goals in four games including consecutive shutouts of Sweden, Nigeria and England. Heading into the semifinal match against Brazil, U.S. coach Greg Ryan benched Solo in favor of 36-year-old veteran U.S. keeper Briana Scurry, who had a strong history of performance against the Brazilians but had not played a complete game in three months. The U.S. lost to Brazil 4-0, ending a 51-game (regulation time) undefeated streak, while playing much of the match with ten players after midfielder Shannon Boxx received a second yellow card at the end of the first half.
Post-2007 World Cup fallout
In an impromptu interview following the match, a clearly upset Hope Solo criticized Ryan's decision. “It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. There's no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves. And the fact of the matter is it's not 2004 any longer. It's not 2004. And it's 2007, and I think you have to live in the present. And you can't live by big names. You can't live in the past. It doesn't matter what somebody did in an Olympic gold medal game in the Olympics 3 years ago. Now is what matters, and that's what I think.” Many viewed her comments as being critical of Scurry's performance, although Hope Solo released an apologetic statement the following day saying that was not her intent. On September 29, 2007, manager Greg Ryan announced that Hope Solo would not be with the team and would not play in the third-place match against Norway the following day. Team captain Kristine Lilly stated that the decision on Solo was made by the team as a group. The U.S. went on to win against Norway 4-1.
Hope Solo was called to the U.S. women's national Football team roster for the post World Cup tour, but she did not attend the first workout ahead of the first game against Mexico. The players' contract with the federation stipulated that anyone on the World Cup roster had the right to play in the tour. Greg Ryan stated, “We're initiating a process of reconciliation, and in doing that you can't mandate reconciliation. This isn't a made for Hollywood love story, this is a real story, and we're all working at that.” She was present for, but did not play in any of, the 3 games against Mexico, being substituted by Briana Scurry for the first and third matches, and Nicole Barnhart for the second. The third match against Mexico, on October 20, 2007, marked the end of the U.S. women's national team's 2007 season. The team reorganized in January 2008 to begin preparations for the 2008 Summer Olympics. Ryan left the team after his contract was not renewed in December 2007
Beijing Olympics 2008
On June 23, 2008, it was announced Hope Solo would be the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. team at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In a reversal of roles from the 2004 Olympics, Brianna Scurry did not make the team (though she was an alternate). On August 21, the U.S. women's team won the gold medal by defeating Brazil 1–0 in extra time in no small measure due to Solo's outstanding performance as she stopped an energetic Brazil attack, making save after save.
Personal life
Hope Solo's parents divorced when she was 6; while she lived with her mother, she stayed close to her father, a sometimes-homeless veteran who remained a superior influence in her life until his sudden death in June 2007. She attended Richland High School and the University of Washington.