On a Mission: The Smithsonian History of US Women Astronauts

by Valerie Neal

The definitive history of all 61 American women astronauts that's perfect for fans of The Six eager for more

Sally Ride became a household name as the first American woman in space, but scores of equally impressive women have also left their mark in space. On a  The Smithsonian History of US Women Astronauts spans 45 years and 61 astronauts to share the epic journeys of women who made space for themselves in a male-dominated field.

Valerie Neal, emerita curator from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and expert on human spaceflight, interviewed many of the US women astronauts to bring their experiences to life. She offers a culturally insightful history of their achievements, the challenges they've faced, and their distinctive stories. Collectively, they've completed more than 100 space shuttle missions and more than 30 long-duration stays on the International Space Station and Russian Space Station Mir, and they continue to prove themselves in present-day space exploration efforts.

The book includes 50 black-and-white photographs to complement the historical account. With its sweeping look from the first women astronauts to Christina Hammock Koch, assigned to the first crewed Artemis mission around the Moon, there is no comparably thorough book on America's women astronauts. On a Mission is an inspiring tribute to unsung women's history.

Genres: Space, Nonfiction, History

360 pages, Hardcover

Published October 28, 2025

About the author

Dr. Valerie Neal joined the Museum as a curator in 1989 and is responsible for artifact collections from the Space Shuttle era and International Space Station, most prominently the orbiter Discovery. She led the Museum's effort to prepare shuttle test vehicle Enterprise for public display and to acquire Spacelab, SpaceShipOne, and the Manned Maneuvering Unit for the national collection. She worked closely with NASA and Museum staff to orchestrate the transfer of Discovery to the Smithsonian and the release of Enterprise back to NASA in 2012. She has curated three major exhibitions: Where Next Columbus? on the challenges of future exploration; Space Race; and Moving Beyond Earth about spaceflight in and beyond the Space Shuttle era.

Dr. Neal's publications include Discovery, Champion of the Space Shuttle Fleet (2014) and two edited books on space exploration, Spaceflight: A Smithsonian Guide (1995) and Where Next, Columbus? The Future of Space Exploration (1994). Her articles on shuttle history have appeared in History and Technology and Space Policy. She has been instrumental in the production of two Smithsonian Channel documentaries about the shuttle. Her current projects include completing a book about spaceflight in the shuttle era.

Before joining the Museum, Dr. Neal spent a decade as a writer, editor, and manager for some 25 NASA publications on shuttle and Spacelab missions, the Hubble Space Telescope and other great space observatories, the space sciences, and NASA history. She also participated in underwater astronaut-training activities and worked on the mission management support team for four shuttle missions.

She earned a Ph.D. in American studies from the University of Minnesota, following an M.A. in American studies from the University of Southern California, and a B.A. in English and history from Texas Christian University. She has taught at the University of Minnesota, the University of Alabama in Huntsville, and Vanderbilt University.

Reviews

[WM D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book I just finished reading told the story of how NASA went from being a male dominated space agency to a more diverse space agency. It tells the story of 61 female astronauts who were trailblazers in the early days of the space agency and how with the help from a woman who was involved in the tv show Star Trek inspired more women to join NASA and become astronauts. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good nonfiction book.

[Karen Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this book exists. As a child, my heroes were the first group of women astronauts and I aspired to be one myself one day until I got slightly air sick on a small commuter flight. Figuring space flight was probably not for me, I became an aerospace engineer and spent a career in the AF and defense industry. I thought the book was a good collection of factual data and is a good remembrance of how far we’ve come as a society. I would have liked more personal stories from and about these groundbreaking individuals.

[Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Last year I directed a play called “They Promised Her the Moon,” by Laurel Ollstein, about the life of Jerrie Cobb, the first woman to undergo the same testing and training as the male astronauts of the Mercury space missions. As someone who works in the Artemis program, and with the announcement of the first woman to go around the moon, I’ve developed an interest in women’s history in space travel. This book takes an extraordinarily deep dive into that history.

In On a Mission, Valerie Neal constructs an incredibly detailed narrative that explores the lives of women astronauts from the first NASA class to admit women to nearly the present day. From profiles of the astronauts to what it is expected to be an astronaut. Neal explores the hardships women early in NASA had to face and how things have improved, but also how much more potential there is for improvement. It was truly inspiring to read excepts about women whose names I knew because of missions like Challenger, Columbia, Discovery, and now Artemis. And also because of Jerrie Cobb and the Mercury 13, whose history I learned when researching for the play. While they don’t get much mention in this book - they weren’t astronauts - they still deserve a place in the history of women astronauts.

As much as I enjoyed learning about this aspect of astronaut history, I will say it has never taken me this long to read 300 pages. I started this book in January and just now finished it. It is very repetitive and sometimes a dry read. I recommend On a Mission to only the most curious and/or the most dedicated reader.

[Arnold Grot · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first for Chapters read like a history book, giving individual biographies interlaced with selection processes. Chapters 5 and 6 are repetitive in retelling the astronauts stories but from the perspective work and balance. That said, there are nuggets to be gleamed. One nugget from pages 225-6, Peggy Whitson’s comment (p226) on reflecting on her term of Chief of the Astronauts Office (2002-5) stands out. Then there are the gender issues of men deciding what a woman needs without asking the woman involved; showing Sally Ride a bundle of 100 tampons to be stored on her first flight and asking is that the right number. (okay, I admit that after 54 yers of marriage, I don’t know how many my wife uses during her menstrual cycle). As to menstrual cycles while flying, the Army (p266) determined that does not affect performance when the WASPs flew many missions in support of combat. That is one of many one women issues of which planning and having children while an astronaut. Definitely worth reading.

[Craig Beyers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book fills the need to identify, describe, and honor the women astronauts in the U.S. space program. I’m glad the author wrote this book as I learned, to my chagrin as someone who’s followed the space program before the Mercury program start, of many of the women astronauts I knew nothing about. Many of these women have accomplished incredible things throughout their lives, like many men, and I am in awe of their accomplishments. I only wish that the AIA could convince (or afford) one or more of these astronauts to spend the day at the American Rocketry Challenge (see www.rocketcontest.org) with the young men and women involved in that STEM event.

[nina · Rating 3 out of 5]

So cool, I did have to skim the bios a little bit so I could finish this is time. Girl power 🦸‍♀️