"The true story of the "Mercury 13" women"--Cover.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 122-130) and index.

"T minus thirty-eight years" -- "I jumped at the offer" -- "Not a meaningful test" -- "Mommy's going to the moon!" -- "Too good to be true" -- "Regret to advise" -- "Let's stop this now!" -- "Jerrie Cobb isn't running this program. I am!" -- "The men go off and fight the wars and fly the airplanes" -- "NASA never had any intention of putting those women in space" -- "We want to see a woman driving the bus, not sitting in the back" -- "I am living proof that dreams do come true."

What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape, any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government. They were blocked by prejudice, jealousy, and the scrawled note of one of the most powerful men in Washington. But even though the Mercury 13 women did not make it into space, they did not lose, for their example empowered young women to take their place in the sky, piloting jets and commanding space capsules. Almost Astronauts is the story of thirteen true pioneers of the space age.