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Almost Heaven: Women on the Frontiers of Space
When we first blasted our way into space a generation ago, we did so with men from each of the superpowers. Women were excluded from one of the most exciting adventures of the century—and not because they weren't up to the challenge. In 1962, three accomplished female pilots took their case before the U.S. Congress, but they were dismissed as unpatriotic. We were in a Cold War—a space race—and NASA had already chosen the Mercury Seven to represent America. In Almost Heaven, acclaimed writer Bettyann Kevles gives voice to the women of the space age-women who had the "right stuff," but had to struggle to prove it. Through intensive interviews and meticulous research, Kevles illuminates what makes these women tick. What were their unique concerns as female astronauts? Were they truly accepted into the astronaut corps, or were they merely "tokens"? She also poses a question that will affect generations to come: Is NASA preparing women as well as men for travel beyond Earth's orbit, or is the research still biased toward men?
The stories of these forty women, told here for the first time in rich and colorful detail, explore the convergence of culture and science—and suggest the battle is far from over.
The stories of these forty women, told here for the first time in rich and colorful detail, explore the convergence of culture and science—and suggest the battle is far from over.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
February 11, 2018
I enjoyed this work which can be read as a series of memoirs or as a collection of fascinating facts. The first women to reach space were cosmonauts, and the author was initially going to write just about American astronauts when she got the chance to reach the cosmonaut women records too. So we get a great view of how two differing societies treated women and gave them opportunities. According to several postings in Amazon reviews, there are errors of fact and spelling in the book. For this reason I am giving four stars instead of five.
NASA was only taking test pilots from the Air Force as astronauts, and the Air Force did not put women in that role. When pressed, NASA picked thirteen women to train, but never sent them anywhere. NASA seemed obsessed with toilets, periods and chaperones. Valentina Tereskova and Valentina Ponomareva took advantage of the simple fact that women are smaller and lighter.
Later NASA was able to expand roles to mission scientists and engineers, allowing room for women, as well as accepting pilots. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. There was also pressure to train women of colour, plenty of whom worked at NASA, and make the astronauts more diverse.
By the end of the book we've read heartbreaking details about astronauts killed in shuttles; and seen that women have to work hard before entering training in early thirties, and wait for a mission, so if they drop out for a year to have a baby they may not get a chance to fly. Families - and pressure from husbands of astronauts - are part of the picture.
I especially liked Nichelle Nichols, actress who played Lieutenant Uhura, recalling that she saw no role models in real life for her fans. She went to NASA bases and advocated for training young women to go to space. One word that keeps reappearing through the book is inspired. I love all the photos. I also like that the 1965 Barbie doll was dressed as an astronaut, when the previous year she had been a flight attendant and her boyfriend Ken was the pilot.
And the first journalist in space was a Japanese man, Toyohiro Akiyama, sent to Mir on Soyuz when the Russians started taking paying guests to finance their space programme. The development of the different orbiting platforms and lengths of stay is explained. Well done all.
Index P.265 - 274. I counted 74 names which I could be sure were female, including some fictional ones.
I borrowed this book from the Royal Dublin Society Library. This is an unbiased review.
NASA was only taking test pilots from the Air Force as astronauts, and the Air Force did not put women in that role. When pressed, NASA picked thirteen women to train, but never sent them anywhere. NASA seemed obsessed with toilets, periods and chaperones. Valentina Tereskova and Valentina Ponomareva took advantage of the simple fact that women are smaller and lighter.
Later NASA was able to expand roles to mission scientists and engineers, allowing room for women, as well as accepting pilots. Sally Ride was the first American woman in space. There was also pressure to train women of colour, plenty of whom worked at NASA, and make the astronauts more diverse.
By the end of the book we've read heartbreaking details about astronauts killed in shuttles; and seen that women have to work hard before entering training in early thirties, and wait for a mission, so if they drop out for a year to have a baby they may not get a chance to fly. Families - and pressure from husbands of astronauts - are part of the picture.
I especially liked Nichelle Nichols, actress who played Lieutenant Uhura, recalling that she saw no role models in real life for her fans. She went to NASA bases and advocated for training young women to go to space. One word that keeps reappearing through the book is inspired. I love all the photos. I also like that the 1965 Barbie doll was dressed as an astronaut, when the previous year she had been a flight attendant and her boyfriend Ken was the pilot.
And the first journalist in space was a Japanese man, Toyohiro Akiyama, sent to Mir on Soyuz when the Russians started taking paying guests to finance their space programme. The development of the different orbiting platforms and lengths of stay is explained. Well done all.
Index P.265 - 274. I counted 74 names which I could be sure were female, including some fictional ones.
I borrowed this book from the Royal Dublin Society Library. This is an unbiased review.
December 31, 2023
Almost Heaven: The Story of Women in Space by Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles doesn't quite hook you as well as other books on the topic that I've read, but it's still a fascinating read. I definitely appreciated that it features Soviet and American space programs. If you liked this piece of history, I also recommend The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush.
May 29, 2011
This book has changed my life! I want to be an astronaut (Gemma scurries off to find someone who will teach her A-level maths & physics ... )
September 4, 2012
This is the story of the courageous, oft-times brilliant women who pioneered in outer space despite all the frustrations they faced along the way. Starting with the story of Soviet cosmonaut, Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, through the aborted Mercury 13 project that saw NASA begin to train thirteen American women who volunteered for space flight only to unceremoniously dismiss them, to the triumphant yet tragic era of the Shuttle, the author covers her subject articulately and comprehensively, reflecting copious research.
After the misfire of the sixties, when Mercury astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter appeared before Congress nixing the idea of women astronauts, reflecting the typical chauvinist attitudes of the era, women were destined to come into their own in space, though never in the numbers of their male counterparts. The many personalities of American, Russian and third nation women cosmonauts and astronauts are highlighted as we get to know who they were and what they accomplished on their various missions. Women played a large role in the joint Russian-American Soyuz/Mir space station missions, followed by the international space station era, which tested how both genders could stand up to long periods of weightlessness while orbiting the earth for weeks and even months at a time. The discussion of cultural differences between Russians and Americans resulting in male cosmonauts being much more enthusiastic and accepting of having American and third nation female astronauts on board, in contrast to their own women whom they regarded (chauvinistically) as more fit for the home than outer space, is especially interesting. Also enlightening are the explanations of the different roles and career trajectories of Shuttle mission specialists, often civilian scientists (e.g. Sally Ride and Judy Resnik), contrasted to pilots/commanders (e.g. Eileen Collins), with their requisite military backgrounds that paralleled their male counterparts. The Shuttle's history is covered mission by mission through 2003, both with its successes and the duel disasters of Challenger and Columbia, in which two women perished along with each crew.
The Shuttle is gone now, of course. Space exploration today along with the notion of space tourism centers on the private sector. Yet, a manned flight to Mars is something still on the far horizon, a mission in which NASA would likely play a huge role. The author isn't afraid to discuss a bugaboo subject that NASA has always avoided discussing. Namely that with thirty-something human specimens of both genders in top physical condition on board for a three-year roundtrip flight, the prospect of sex in space, the author reasonably enough concludes, is something that should be unashamedly and seriously discussed in all of its ramifications beforehand. As a history of the space race, the culture of NASA and the inspiring stories of the women themselves, this book comes highly recommended.
After the misfire of the sixties, when Mercury astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter appeared before Congress nixing the idea of women astronauts, reflecting the typical chauvinist attitudes of the era, women were destined to come into their own in space, though never in the numbers of their male counterparts. The many personalities of American, Russian and third nation women cosmonauts and astronauts are highlighted as we get to know who they were and what they accomplished on their various missions. Women played a large role in the joint Russian-American Soyuz/Mir space station missions, followed by the international space station era, which tested how both genders could stand up to long periods of weightlessness while orbiting the earth for weeks and even months at a time. The discussion of cultural differences between Russians and Americans resulting in male cosmonauts being much more enthusiastic and accepting of having American and third nation female astronauts on board, in contrast to their own women whom they regarded (chauvinistically) as more fit for the home than outer space, is especially interesting. Also enlightening are the explanations of the different roles and career trajectories of Shuttle mission specialists, often civilian scientists (e.g. Sally Ride and Judy Resnik), contrasted to pilots/commanders (e.g. Eileen Collins), with their requisite military backgrounds that paralleled their male counterparts. The Shuttle's history is covered mission by mission through 2003, both with its successes and the duel disasters of Challenger and Columbia, in which two women perished along with each crew.
The Shuttle is gone now, of course. Space exploration today along with the notion of space tourism centers on the private sector. Yet, a manned flight to Mars is something still on the far horizon, a mission in which NASA would likely play a huge role. The author isn't afraid to discuss a bugaboo subject that NASA has always avoided discussing. Namely that with thirty-something human specimens of both genders in top physical condition on board for a three-year roundtrip flight, the prospect of sex in space, the author reasonably enough concludes, is something that should be unashamedly and seriously discussed in all of its ramifications beforehand. As a history of the space race, the culture of NASA and the inspiring stories of the women themselves, this book comes highly recommended.
June 8, 2017
This book filled a vital niche in astronaut literature upon its release in 2003, as Yale historian Bettyann Holtzmann Kevles examined the desire to send American women into space dating back into the 1960s and the reasons that the desire finally reached fruition by 1983. NASA stands out in her narrative as behind the pace of the women's movement, only reaching the decision to recruit female astronauts due to the "lobbying and agitating" of the 1960s and 1970s. But over the intervening years, the women astronauts Kevles spoke with consistently describe the astronaut corps as a gender neutral organization that enabled them to achieve their dreams. The almost equal proportion of men and women in the 2013 and 2017 astronaut classes should spur people to read this book to understand the historical roots that made this possible.
October 12, 2009
An overview of women astronauts starting from the Mercury 13, Kevles focuses on individuals, but covers the breadth at the expense of the depth. Many of the women were interviewed by her, and they share their feelings about being in a male dominated field, but Kevles seldom moves beyond the individual to generalize their experiences.
Still, I learned a lot and it was interesting reading.
Still, I learned a lot and it was interesting reading.
September 10, 2015
I was SO looking forward to this book and was SO disappointed. Utterly dry and boring. Can be summed up: There were women, who were astronauts. Sometimes they faced sexism, sometimes they didn't. Lots of times they MAY have faced sexism but ::shrug emoji:: who's to say what [NASA's] intentions were?
December 30, 2017
Excellent history of women in space which contextualizes their history within the development of space exploration in the USA and Russia primarily, but mention is made of other nations including Canada's first woman astronaut Roberta Bondar.
February 1, 2016
This is an excellent book about 40 women who have been pioneers in the space program, I think they ate great.
June 17, 2019
Very informative. Started with Russian woman and continued through 2003 when the book was published. Brings up some very interesting points. Women want to be considered the same as men, but then when it comes to biology and health, differences need to be acknowledged just not used as obstacles. Women have now become an important part of space travel to the point that instead of referring to them as women astronauts, they are just astronauts, the term originally applied to men. Women have come a long way since 1960s.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews