Six months after their new astronaut recruitment drive had begun, NASA chiefs in Houston and Washington, DC, received initial reports on the first wave of applications. They were alarmed to discover that their plan to remake the astronaut corps in the image of a diverse America had failed among the very groups they had hoped to reach. Of the 870 applications the agency had received to date, only 93 were from women, and just 30—as far as they could ascertain—were from minorities; of these, not a single one was considered outstanding.
P78. July 76', laxed mission SPC reqs, set off frenzy of new applicants, but none panned out in the diversity initiative.
83. All out blitz to meet minorities where they are, among them Ron McNair.
84. McNair gifted as a kid, had doubts in undergrad, convinced to stay and apply at MIT.
87. "If being black meant he had to work harder than his white peers to prove himself, then that is what he would do and without compliant"
92. NASA was seeking well rounded individials while looking for diversity. Resnik was jewish, Onizuka asian, 6 women, 3 black men.
94. The new astronauts house hunted, even as Carter considered shutting the Shuttle program.
Branded as "The Fucking New Guys" the old timers had little confidence they would stay. Even played the old Apollo capsule burn up tape.
