WIKIARCHIVES.SPACE

Exuberant and thrilled to be at Kennedy Space Center, seven women who once aspired to fly into space stand outside Launch Pad 39B near the space shuttle Discovery, poised for liftoff on the first flight of 1995. Visiting the space center as invited guests of STS-63 Pilot Eileen Collins are from left Gene Nora Jessen, Wally Funk, Jerrie Cobb, Jerri Truhill, Sarah Rutley, Myrtle Cagle and Bernice Steadman. They are members of the Mercury 13 group of women who trained to become astronauts for America's first human spaceflight program back in the early 1960s. Although the Mercury 13 effort was eventually cancelled, the women are proud to know that their commitment helped pave the way for the milestone Collins will soon set: becoming the first female shuttle pilot.