The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women in Space

Loren Grush

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The remarkable true story of America's first women astronauts

'Lifts the curtain on the moment when Neil Armstrong's "one small step for man" expanded to encompass the talent, ambition and perseverance of America's first female astronauts' MARGOT LEE SHETTERLY, bestselling author of Hidden Figures

'Strap yourself in for a thrilling ride with genuine American heroes - six women who proved you don't need the right plumbing to have the right stuff!' LYNN SHERR, author of Sally Ride: America's First Woman in Space

When NASA sent astronauts to the moon in the 1960s and 1970s the agency excluded women from the corps, arguing that only military test pilots - a group then made up exclusively of men - had the right stuff. It was an era in which women were steered away from jobs in science and deemed too fragile for space flight. Eventually, though, NASA relented and opened the application process to everyone, regardless of race or gender. From a 1977 candidate pool of 8,000 six elite women were selected - Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon.

In The Six, acclaimed journalist Loren Grush shows these brilliant and courageous women enduring claustrophobic - and sometimes deeply sexist - media attention, undergoing rigorous survival training, and preparing for years to take multi-million-dollar payloads into orbit. Together, the Six helped build the tools that made the space program run. One of the group, Judy Resnik, sacrificed her life when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded at 46,000 feet. Everyone knows of Sally Ride's history-making first space ride, but each of the Six would make their mark.

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Praise for The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women in Space

  • Loren Grush's suspenseful, meticulously observed account lifts the curtain on the moment when Neil Armstrong's 'one small step for man' expanded to encompass the talent, ambition, and perseverance of America's first female astronauts. The Six is a well-reported and enlightening read. - Margot Lee Shetterly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden FiguresStrap yourself in for a thrilling ride with genuine American heroes - six women who proved you don't need the right plumbing to have the right stuff! Loren Grush deftly recounts the true grit and deep talent that smashed the celestial glass ceiling. A must-read for explorers on Earth and beyond. - Lynn Sherr, author of Sally Ride: America s First Woman in SpaceWith The Six, Loren Grush has delivered a dazzling look into the lives of the first U.S. women to venture into space. Through its deep reporting and vivid storytelling, the book illuminates the immense obstacles and tragedies these women faced on their way to inspiring the world with their audacious, courageous spirits. This is a story that had to be told, and Grush has told it brilliantly. - Ashlee Vance, author of Elon Musk: Tesla, Space X, and the Quest for a Fantastic FutureIn 1978 six accomplished women were selected as NASA's first female astronauts, entering the high-tech, high-testosterone world of human spaceflight at a time of great change in American society. How did these trailblazers survive, adapt, and eventually excel as Space Shuttle crew members? How did their lives change? Loren Grush's The Six tells this triumphant and sometimes tragic story as skillfully and completely as it ever will be told, dramatically showing events through the eyes and ears of the women themselves. - Michael Cassutt, author of The Astronaut Maker: How One Mysterious Engineer Ran Human Spaceflight for a Generation

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