Female Would-Be Mercury Astronauts to Be Honored

OSHKOSH, Wis. -- Thirteen American female pilots, who trained in the early 1960s to become astronauts only to have NASA pull the plug on them at the eleventh hour, will receive honorary doctorates Saturday from the University of Wisconsin at Oshkosh.

The pilots were part of the United States' initial effort to catch up to the Soviet space program after Yuri Gagarin became the first human sent into space in April 1961.

The women endured, and passed, the same tests as the better-known "Mercury 7" male astronauts: suffering through sensory deprivation and tests gauging how long they could keep body parts submerged in near-freezing water.

Days before the group was to leave for spaceflight simulation tests in Pensacola, Fla., the women were told that NASA was not interested in their training.

"I think we all wanted to punch somebody," said Beatrice "B" Steadman, 80, one of the 13.

In 1963, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. Not until 20 years later did Sally Ride become the first American woman in space.

George Low, director of space missions in the 1960s, explained at the time that the women lacked military test pilot experience (they could not be test pilots back then); that letting them use the training equipment would cut down on the men's time; and that enough men were waiting for astronaut slots.

More than 40 years later, in the fall of 2005, Jane Wypiszynski, a communications instructor at UW-Oshkosh, assigned Martha Ackmann's 2003 book "The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of Space Flight" to her freshman students. It went over like a fireball.

"Those women were severely wronged," said freshman Matt Miles, 19, who read the book.

Inspired by the women's story and her students' reaction, Wypiszynski went to Chancellor Richard H. Wells and suggested that UW-Oshkosh award all 13 with honorary doctorates.

Rhea Woltman, another member of the 13, said: "I'd rather be flying the spaceship, but that didn't happen. This is next best. I'll take it."