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Women and Space

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Submitted By ryangeless
Words 2207
Pages 9
Ryan Torres
English 1A
Professor Miller
May 10, 2014
Her Righteous Stuff Space exploration has come a long way since that night of October 4, 1957, when Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union, eventually starting the Space Race. In Tom Wolfe’s book, The Right Stuff, he dives into the lives and perspectives of the male pilots/astronauts who accomplished one of the greatest feats of American and world history. But what about the women? In its early years, much like everything involving people in its early years, the space program was extremely male-dominant. However, in 1959 – according to an article from the Advances in Physiology Education – General Donald Flickinger and Dr. W. Randolph Lovelace II had suggested (from an engineering standpoint) it would have been “more practical” to try to send women into space because of their lower body weight and oxygen requirements. However, this suggestion was rejected by the Air Force. At least there was some sort of consideration of women involvement to play a crucial, early role in one of the most important times in American history. Despite the early times and setbacks for women, they continued to push through. Women have played a crucial role in the space program, from overcoming discrimination to make significant contributions in all aspects of space exploration, including mathematics and orbital flight.
Women have made significant contributions to space flight, and one particular woman, Katherine G. Johnson, had had a huge contribution in the first test flights. At 15, she had already entered college. She was the youngest of her siblings and was an extremely intelligent and gifted in mathematics. She skipped grades and wound up at least two years ahead of her brother. Whilst attending college, a mathematician named William W. Schieffelin Claytor encouraged her to take advanced math courses. Several years

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