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Jerrie Cobb, a well-known woman pilot in the 1950s, flies the Gimbal Rig in the Altitude Wind Tunnel, (AWT) in April 1960 at the Lewis Research Center (now Glenn Research Center). The Gimbal Rig, formally called MASTIF or Multiple Axis Space Test Inertia Facility, was used to train the Mercury 7 astronauts to control the spin of a tumbling spacecraft. As part of a privately funded initiative Jerrie Cobb was the first woman to pass all three phases of the Mercury astronaut screening program. However, U.S. Government policy at the time stipulated a number of very specific qualifications for becoming an astronaut, including experience as a military test pilot. So, although the women who had volunteered for this private initiative did as well, or better, on the various screening tests than the original seven astronauts, the effort collapsed when the unofficial nature of the program became apparent to government organizations being asked to provide facilities for training. Unfortunately, Ms Cobb and the other women were apparently unaware that this effort had never been approved by NASA or the military.