Right Stuff, Wrong Sex: America's First Women in Space Program

On June 17, 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Curiously, unlike every previous milestone in the "space race," this event did not spur NASA to catch up by flying an American woman. Though there were suitable candidates—two years earlier, thirteen female pilots recruited by the private Woman in Space program had passed a strenuous physical exam and were ready fo...