Although the first American woman was not sent into space until 1983, NASA designed an experimental program to explore the possibilities of a female astronaut in 1960. This program was an experiment outside NASA - although some say it was a "secret" analysis actually conducted by NASA - to see whether women could withstand the same strenuous tests that men did.
Just like the men tested by NASA for the Mercury mission, thirteen women had ice water poured into their ears, a 3-foot rubber hose pushed down their throats and needles jammed into their nerves. The initial Mercury Astronaut Candidate examinations consisted of three phases. Phase One involved a series of 87 different tests covering everything from having to swallow three feet of rubber hose for a stomach test to having 18 needles stuck into your head to record brainwaves to drinking a pint of radioactive water.
Phase Two consisted of psychological and psychiatric testing. The isolation tank test involved being placed in a circular 8-foot deep tank of warm water located in a small, air-tight room. In addition, the water could not be felt since the water temperature was perfectly matched to the subjectıs own body temperature. While undergoing the experience, all of the five basic senses were as thoroughly removed as possible since there was nothing to see, hear, touch, taste or smell, thereby simulating a weightless condition. Under such sensory deprivation conditions, the normal reaction is for the subconscious mind to take over and one lapses into uncontrollable hallucinations. One of the women, Wally Funk, spent a record 10 hours and 35 minutes in the tank without hallucinating, although she admits to sneaking a few naps!
During Phase Three, the FAA conducted Aerospace Physiology courses and tests to finalize the qualifying procedure. One part of the program was the Centrifuge Test, which simulates gravitational forces such are encountered in lift-off and reentry procedures in a space vehicle. Other tests included a High Altitude Chamber test and a Seat Ejection Test. All in all, the tests proved that the women were less prone to heart attacks and less vulnerable to loneliness, cold, heat, pain and noise. Plus, the fact that they weighed less than men showed that major amounts of money could be saved by their involvement in the space program, since the cost to send something up into orbit was approximately $1,000 per pound.
These women were put through the same grueling tests as the male candidates, yet they never had the chance to prove themselves up in space. Scott Carpenter, one of the leading male American astronauts, once commented that he always believed women were as capable of space flight as men. In the feverish ³Space Race² competition with the Soviet Union, however, ³we didnıt want to do anything that would degrade our effort.² Mercury flight director Chris Kraft explained, ³Had we lost a woman back then because we decided to fly a woman rather than a man, we would have been castrated.² The women were unable to get answers from NASA, so they went to Washington to find out why the program for testing women was canceled. In July of 1962, a Congressional subcommittee met and hearings were held to review the situation. The women explained all the tests and the extraordinary data that had been collected, and it eventually got to the point that astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepherd were called in. They claimed that the womenıs achievements had been exaggerated by the press.
What NASAıs defense came down to was the fact that the female trainees had never gone through the jet-aircraft testing. The catch was that women were not yet eligible for jet-pilot training programs (and they wouldnıt be allowed to until 1973). One woman, Jerri Cobb, asked for the jet experience requirements be waived on account of her tremendous amount of flying hours and success in the Naval tests and was refused. Ironically, John Glennıs own educational requirements had been waived, but it didnıt help the womenıs arguments any. NASA was simply not going to budge on the issue.
Although the female astronaut program was suspended, these thirteen women - who known as the ³Mercury 13² - were the first women to pass all tests with very high marks and qualify for the Mercury astronaut program. So, after rigorous testing and strenuous training, none of the original women tested were to venture into the great world unknown of space. The honor of becoming the first woman in space went to the Soviet Unionıs Valentina Tereshkova in 1963.