Integrating Women into the Astronaut Corps: Politics and Logistics at NASA, 1972–2004

Author:   Amy E. Foster (Associate Professor, University of Central Florida)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
ISBN:  

9781421401959


Pages:   224
Publication Date:   26 January 2012
Recommended Age:   From 17
Format:   Hardback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Our Price $130.00 Quantity:  
Add to Cart

Share |

Integrating Women into the Astronaut Corps: Politics and Logistics at NASA, 1972–2004


Add your own review!

Overview

Why, Amy E. Foster asks, did it take two decades after the Soviet Union launched its first female cosmonaut for the United States to send its first female astronaut into space? In answering this question, Foster recounts the complicated history of integrating women into NASA's astronaut corps. NASA selected its first six female astronauts in 1978. Foster examines the political, technological, and cultural challenges that the agency had to overcome to usher in this new era in spaceflight. She shows how NASA had long developed progressive hiring policies but was limited in executing them by a national agenda to beat the Soviets to the moon, budget constraints, and cultural ideas about women's roles in America. Lively writing and compelling stories, including personal interviews with America's first women astronauts, propel Foster's account. Through extensive archival research, Foster also examines NASA's directives about sexual discrimination, the technological issues in integrating women into the corps, and the popular media's discussion of women in space. Foster puts together a truly original study of the experiences not only of early women astronauts but also of the managers and engineers who helped launch them into space. In documenting these events, Foster offers a broader understanding of the difficulties in sexually integrating any workplace, even when the organization approaches the situation with as positive an outlook and as strong a motivation as did NASA.

Full Product Details

Author:   Amy E. Foster (Associate Professor, University of Central Florida)
Publisher:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Imprint:   Johns Hopkins University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.00cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.454kg
ISBN:  

9781421401959


ISBN 10:   1421401959
Pages:   224
Publication Date:   26 January 2012
Recommended Age:   From 17
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction 1. Beyond Rosie the Riveter 2. Wilma Deering Meets Captain Janeway 3. ''The Damn Crazy Things!'' 4. Making Space 5. ''The Strange Ones'' 6. Defying Gravity 7. ''NASA Sutra'' 8. Uninvited Heroics Epilogue Notes Essay on Sources Index

Reviews

This book is the first one to examine seriously how women finally joined the NASA astronaut corps... Rich in documentary sources and strengthened by oral histories, this book offers memorable stories illustrating the texture of this significant transition. (Margaret A. Weitekamp, National Air & Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution)


Author Information

Amy E. Foster is an associate professor of history at the University of Central Florida.

Tab Content 6

Author Website:  

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

No review item found!

Add your own review!

Countries Available

All regions
Latest Reading Guide

Aorrng

Shopping Cart
Your cart is empty
Shopping cart
Mailing List