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Women in space : 23 stories of first flights, scientific missions, and gravity-breaking adventures / Karen Bush Gibson.

By: Material type: TextTextSeries: Women of action (Chicago, Ill.)Publisher: Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press Incorporated, [2014]Copyright date: ©2014Description: 234 pages : illustrations ; 23 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781613748442
Subject(s): LOC classification:
  • TL793 .G457 2014
Contents:
The Mercury 13. The astronauts who never were -- Cosmonauts. Valentina Tereshkova : first in space ; Svetlana Savitskaya : no apron for her ; Elena Kondakova : long-duration in space ; Yelena Serova : ready and waiting -- American women join the space race. Sally Ride : first American woman in space ; Judith Resnik : all she ever wanted to do ; Kathryn Sullivan : a walk into history ; Shannon Lucid : a Russian favorite ; Mae Jemison : doctor astronaut ; Ellen Ochoa : career astronaut ; Eileen Collins : space shuttle commander ; Catherine "Cady" Coleman : musical astronaut ; Pamela Melroy : piloting in space ; Peggy Whitson : space station commander ; Sunita Williams : breaking records ; Barbara Morgan : teachers in space -- World astronauts. Roberta Bondar : living a childhood dream ; Chiaki Mukai : opening doors ; Claudie André-Deshays Haigneré : French astronaut and Soyuz commander ; Yi Soyeon : first from Korea ; Kalpana Chawla : a tragic end -- Liu Yang : flying knight in space -- Samantha Cristoforetti : military pilot astronaut -- The future of spaceflight.
Summary: Stories of the female pilots, physicists, and doctors who broke the stratospheric ceiling.
Holdings
Item type Current library Collection Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Non-Fiction Davis (Central) Library Non-Fiction Non-Fiction 629.45 GIB 1 Available T00605097
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

When Valentina Tereshkova blasted off aboard Vostok 6 on June 16, 1963, she became the first woman to rocket into space. It would be 19 years before another woman got a chance--cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya in 1982--followed by American astronaut Sally Ride a year later. By breaking the stratospheric ceiling, these women forged a path for many female astronauts, cosmonauts, and mission specialists to follow.

Women in Space profiles 23 pioneers, including Eileen Collins, the first woman to command the space shutt≤ Peggy Whitson, who logged more than a year in orbit aboard the International Space Station; and Mae Jemison, the first African American woman in space; as well as astronauts from Japan, Canada, Italy, South Korea, France, and more. Readers will also learn about the Mercury 13, American women selected by NASA in the late 1950s to train for spaceflight. Though they matched and sometimes surpassed their male counterparts in performance, they were ultimately denied the opportunity to head out to the launching pad. Their story, and the stories of the pilots, physicists, and doctors who followed them, demonstrate the vital role women have played in the quest for scientific understanding.

Includes bibliographical references( pages 221-227) and index.

The Mercury 13. The astronauts who never were -- Cosmonauts. Valentina Tereshkova : first in space ; Svetlana Savitskaya : no apron for her ; Elena Kondakova : long-duration in space ; Yelena Serova : ready and waiting -- American women join the space race. Sally Ride : first American woman in space ; Judith Resnik : all she ever wanted to do ; Kathryn Sullivan : a walk into history ; Shannon Lucid : a Russian favorite ; Mae Jemison : doctor astronaut ; Ellen Ochoa : career astronaut ; Eileen Collins : space shuttle commander ; Catherine "Cady" Coleman : musical astronaut ; Pamela Melroy : piloting in space ; Peggy Whitson : space station commander ; Sunita Williams : breaking records ; Barbara Morgan : teachers in space -- World astronauts. Roberta Bondar : living a childhood dream ; Chiaki Mukai : opening doors ; Claudie André-Deshays Haigneré : French astronaut and Soyuz commander ; Yi Soyeon : first from Korea ; Kalpana Chawla : a tragic end -- Liu Yang : flying knight in space -- Samantha Cristoforetti : military pilot astronaut -- The future of spaceflight.

Stories of the female pilots, physicists, and doctors who broke the stratospheric ceiling.

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Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

In this addition to the Women of Action series, Gibson (Women Aviators) chronicles the long, challenging journeys undertaken by women from around the world as they worked to become astronauts. While several women-such as the "Mercury 13"-underwent rigorous training and were qualified to travel to space, they were often overlooked in favor of their male counterparts; Mercury 13 member Jerrie Cobb once stated that Vice-President Johnson had told her, "Jerrie, if we let you or other women into the space program, we have to let blacks in, we'd have to let Mexican-Americans in, we have to let every minority in and we just can't do it." The 23 individuals profiled include Judith Resnik, mission specialist onboard the Challenger; Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman to travel to outer space; Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; and Yi Soyeon, the first South Korean in space, female or male. Photographs, personal stories, and details about the physical and emotional hurdles required to becoming an astronaut create an informative and hopeful overview of underrecognized scientists and explorers in a male-dominated field. Ages 12-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

School Library Journal Review

Gr 7-10-In the space race between the Soviet Union and the United States, the first woman in space was the Soviet, Valentina Tereshkova, in 1963. America's first female astronaut, Sally Ride, went into space in 1983. This book details the stories of 19 others from across the globe who overcame obstacles of prejudice to fly in space. They include four Soviet women, Canadian astronaut Roberta Bondar, Japanese doctor Chiaki Mukai, French astronaut Claude Andre-Deshays Haignere, and Yi Soyeon, the first Korean in space. The story of the Mercury 13 is fascinating; 15 women were selected by NASA in the late 1950s. Successful pilots and scientists, they trained, as did the (male) crew of the Mercury 7, but then were not allowed to travel. Each chapter contains photographs and "Learn More" suggested readings. Sidebars are scattered throughout the book. This volume is a companion to the author's Women Aviators (Chicago Review, 2013) and an important addition to women's-history collections.-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Booklist Review

Gibson follows up Women Aviators (2013) with a similar, international gallery of pioneering women who reached for the stars (or, in the notorious case of the Mercury 13, were deliberately prevented from doing so). As in the previous title, she incorporates thorough research and a strong feminist message into her accounts, covering her subjects' specific accomplishments on earth and in space, while also surveying the general history of space flight and astronaut training with a special focus on the gender prejudice that had to be battled and (mostly) overcome. Along with the usual suspects, such as Sally Ride and Mae Jemison, there are many lesser-known women, from Svetlana Savitskaya (the second Russian woman in space) to Kalpana Chawla, who died aboard the space shuttle Columbia, and a number of other women from a variety of countries. This illuminating gathering of role models is also bolstered with sheaves of source notes and useful references to further resources.--Peters, John Copyright 2014 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

The history of women in space is chronicled through profiles of 23 astronauts from 10 countries whose careers span a half century. Dividing her account into four parts, Gibson begins with the story of the Mercury 13, women aviators who proved to be as intelligent and fit as any man but who were nonetheless barred from NASA's astronaut program because of their gender. (Their story is told more compellingly and in greater depth in Tanya Lee Stone's Almost Astronauts: 13 Women Who Dared to Dream, 2009.) The second part is devoted to Soviet and Russian cosmonauts, beginning with Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space. The third and largest part of the book chronologically profiles American women astronauts beginning with Sally Ride and includes Mae Jemison, the first African-American woman in space, and Peggy Whitson, who logged over a year in orbit while aboard the International Space Station. The last part profiles international astronauts from Canada, France, Italy, Japan and South Korea. Sidebars supply factual information on such topics as training, experiments, sleeping and eating in space, and the physical and psychological effects of space travel. This workmanlike book is most valuable for the profiles on cosmonauts and international women astronauts, subjects that have received scant attention. An informative introductory overview of the many important contributions women have made to space exploration. (source notes, glossary, further reading, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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