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In 1960–61, thirteen American women pilots passed the same physical screening tests as NASA's first astronauts, in a privately run programme that was cancelled before any of them could fly. Sixty years later, Wally Funk finally reached space at 82.

The Mercury 13

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Dr Randolph Lovelace, who had designed NASA's astronaut medical exams, quietly ran the same tests on accomplished women pilots — and thirteen passed. The programme lost its facilities in 1961, and Congressional hearings the next year changed nothing. The name 'Mercury 13' came from a television producer decades on. When Wally Funk rode a rocket past the edge of space in July 2021, she carried six decades of waiting with her.

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1960–61'de on üç Amerikalı kadın pilot, NASA'nın ilk astronotlarına uygulanan fiziksel tarama testlerini özel yürütülen bir programda geçti; program hiçbiri uçamadan iptal edildi. Altmış yıl sonra Wally Funk, 82 yaşında nihayet uzaya ulaştı.

Mercury 13'ler

NASA'nın astronot muayenelerini tasarlayan Dr Randolph Lovelace, aynı testleri başarılı kadın pilotlara sessizce uyguladı — ve on üçü geçti. Program 1961'de tesislerini kaybetti; ertesi yılki Kongre oturumları da bir şey değiştirmedi. 'Mercury 13' adını yıllar sonra bir televizyon yapımcısı taktı. Wally Funk Temmuz 2021'de bir roketle uzayın eşiğini aştığında, yanında altmış yıllık bir bekleyişi taşıyordu.

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Background reading: Mercury 13Attribution and context are revised when stronger evidence appears. Corrections are welcome through the editorial page.

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In 1960–61, thirteen American women pilots passed the same physical screening tests as NASA's first astronauts, in a privately run programme that was cancelled before any of them could fly. Sixty years later, Wally Funk finally reached space at 82.

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