My Review of Almost Astronauts

[Mandie]

Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream is a book that focuses on the story of a group of thirteen women who proved that they were just as talented and tough as any male astronaut. They portrayed the definition of bravery by challenging the government and blocking out all of the bias and prejudice behaviors that were displayed by all the higher powers of authority. During this time, women were not even allowed to take out a loan or rent a car without a man’s signature let alone try to be an astronaut. After the Mercury 7 men were made out to be the ideal picture of bravery in 1959, women began to picture themselves in that same picture as astronauts. With the chairman of NASA’s Life Sciences Committee, Randolph Lovelace, supporting the belief that women deserve more rights than given, he worked with one of the 13 women, Jerrie Cobb, to identify female pilots who would qualify as testing subjects. After Cobb successfully passed some of the most rigorous tests many could not complete, other women accepted the challenge to face them. As more women began to pass the tests, Jerrie Cobb flew around the country to speak on behalf of women and how they could benefit the space program. With the government turning away the women, time had passed and Russia successfully sent their first women to space in 1963. Although the 13 women chosen to be astronauts had everything required, they were the wrong sex and in the wrong timeframe. Although some may see the ending to this story to be unhappy, many positives came out of their movement. Even though the women’s mission was put to a stop in 1962, they still confronted NASA, exposed the trap of the jet pilot rule, and destroyed the idea that women could not handle the stress as well as men. Although women have been accepted and become astronauts, they still continue to fight prejudice daily in different situations and fields that are thought to be just for men only.
I really enjoyed reading this book. I can only imagine how frustrating it must have been for these women who were trying to prove all the prejudice opinions people had towards women wrong. Almost Astronauts is a great book for a classroom as the teacher can show their students the adversity women faced and continue to face in today’s society. This book does an excellent job of showing how individuals should do what is right even if they stand alone.