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Women and Machinery DO NOT MIX! — Parallax Forums

Women and Machinery DO NOT MIX!

ercoerco Posts: 20,256
edited 2013-07-10 14:01 in General Discussion
It's one thing for Cal to say that on the Titanic in 1912, but it does seem a trifle short-sighted of NASA in 1962.

Come on, Ladies, please remind us of all the wonderful things you have done for us lately. :)

Amanda? Holly?

http://shine.yahoo.com/healthy-living/nasa-rejection-letter-to-woman-in-1962-was-blunt--no-girls-allowed-181854889.html

Comments

  • WhitWhit Posts: 4,191
    edited 2013-07-09 19:41
    Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and Engineer, and the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963 just a year after NASA sent the rejection letter....

    260px-RIAN_archive_612748_Valentina_Tereshkova.jpg
    260px-RIAN_archive_612748_Valentina_Tereshkova.jpg
    260 x 263 - 16K
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-07-09 19:48
    Progressive Russia, huh? Who knew?

    Thanks for replying, Whit+! I was starting to worry that my post was perceived as so sexist that no one wanted to reply...

    Or maybe you're as un-PC as I am! :)
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-07-09 20:56
    Hey erco,

    gosh, lots of people have made drastic changes in an attempt to get into the astronaut program.

    Shucks, it worked for "Val" in the USSR so it was obviously worth giving it a shot.

    No guts, no glory, right?

    So, don't feel so bad, erco. (Or should we call you "Miss Kelly" from now on?)

    tumblr_mjkrokgrsj1s8rf3io1_1280.jpg
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-07-09 21:24
    I actually threw my name in the hat for Mission Specialist back in 2002, back when I was a single guy. Then Columbia disintegrated in February 2003 and put the space program on hold for a while. When NASA finally resumed astronaut candidate selection, I washed out pretty early in the process. I guess my 100 hours in a Cessna couldn't compete with the serfeit of military pilots and their experience. :(
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2013-07-09 22:16
    China's budding (wo)manned space program seems not to share NASA's early chauvinistic tendencies:

    -Phil
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2013-07-10 05:58
    That letter was from the very early days of America's space program. Back then rockets blew up. Frequently. There is no way that NASA was going to put a woman in that situation. It was also 50 years ago. Things have changed. I think that now, a woman is obviously the superior choice when deciding who to send into space. Actually, unless body mass or high physical strength are one of the requirements, a woman is probably better for just about anything.
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-07-10 08:54
    Nowadays, it appears that the best man for the job of space exploration is no longer a woman - it's a robot.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2013-07-10 09:02
    Whit wrote: »
    Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and Engineer, and the first woman to have flown in space, having been selected from more than four hundred applicants and five finalists to pilot Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963 just a year after NASA sent the rejection letter....

    260px-RIAN_archive_612748_Valentina_Tereshkova.jpg

    Trying to bait me into saying something crass? Where would we be without women? Likely the Cold War would have gone hot.

    With enough vodka, nobody cares...
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-07-10 09:11
    ElectricAye wrote: »
    Nowadays, it appears that the best man for the job of space exploration is no longer a woman - it's a robot.

    @ElectricAye: Don't forget, the very first Mars rover was a GIRL robot, named Sojourner. We guys just can't win anymore.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sojourner_(rover)
  • ElectricAyeElectricAye Posts: 4,561
    edited 2013-07-10 14:01
    erco wrote: »
    ...We guys just can't win anymore. ...

    ScreenShot018.jpg1302550822985.cached.jpg
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