While Jerrie was at Pensacola, the eight women who’d completed the Lovelace Clinic’s medical tests got another letter from Randy about their own upcoming trips to Florida. “By sometime in June we hope that all of you that passed the examinations here will be able to go in a group to a service laboratory where further tests procedures will be carried out. Just as soon as a definite date is picked, I will let you know immediately. Meanwhile,” Randy’s letter continued, “I would like for you to achieve the best possible physical condition that you can as the forthcoming tests are going to require considerable physical stamina. I would recommend walking, swimming, and bicycle riding as well as calisthenics.”
At the end of the week, Jerrie learned that she had successfully completed the Pensacola exams. As far as she could tell, that meant she had passed the same series of tests that the male astronauts had, and she felt as ready to train for spaceflight as they were. The best part, though, was that the government had allowed her to test at a military facility. She was at the top of the bureaucratic ladder and couldn’t see any reason the other women going through the medical tests at the Lovelace Clinic shouldn’t follow in her footsteps. She felt she was truly on her way to space.
Newly encouraged, Jerrie decided to reach out to the man she viewed as the decision-maker. She wrote to Jim Webb, detailing her experiences in Pensacola and inclosing a newspaper clipping reporting Russia’s interest in launching a woman. She impressed upon Jim her willingness to begin training alongside the men and join the fast track for a spaceflight.
Jackie, meanwhile, received letters of thanks from all the women whose Lovelace testing she had financially facilitated. B, anxious about what the next step might be, was dying to tell the world about their testing in the wake of Al Shepard’s flight. Irene admitted she couldn’t have made it to Albuquerque without Jackie’s financial help. Jerri Sloan, midway through divorce proceedings, made a point of telling Jackie her generosity was both great and appreciated.
Eisenhower Presidential Library
* * *
Jack Kennedy had to take a decisive step in confronting the Soviet Union. He’d been mulling over Lyndon’s recommendation of a lunar landing mission for weeks, and he knew America was going to the Moon. Now, with Al Shepard’s flight a success, it was time he tell the country what was next. Standing before a joint session of Congress on May 25, 1961, after addressing military and intelligence issues, he spoke to the mounting issue of space.
“If we are to win the battle that is now going on around the world between freedom and tyranny,” he said, “the dramatic achievements in space which occurred in recent weeks should have made clear to us all, as did the Sputnik in 1957, the impact of this adventure on the minds of men everywhere. Since early in my term, our efforts in space have been under review. With the advice of the Vice President, who is Chairman of the National Space Council, we have examined where we are strong and where we are not, where we may succeed and where we may not. Now it is time to take longer strides—time for a great new American enterprise.” Then came the decision he feared could prove to be the worst of his political career. “I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the Earth.”
NASA had never recommended a crash program like this to the president. It had recommended exploring space and expanding technical capabilities; Jack was mandating fast-tracking this goal as per LBJ’s recommendation to gain support for the agency’s longevity. But he wasn’t declaring anything. He could only ask Congress whether or not it would approve a $549 million20 supplemental appropriation for NASA that would not only get America to the Moon but would also build the country’s space presence through satellites, global operations, and communications. Congress voted in favor of the program with a price tag estimated as high as $40 billion.21
No one outside the upper echelons of NASA and LBJ’s Space Council had expected a Moon landing to be the nation’s next step in space. But space was now a matter of international importance, and the Apollo lunar landing program foremost among all America’s space goals.
The next evening, Jerrie, the native Oklahoman, and Jim Webb sat at the head table at the first Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Space conference in Tulsa. The event was filled with NASA brass, aerospace contractors, politicians, and journalists, all of whom were still grappling with the idea that men were going to walk on the Moon in nine short years. Randy was there, too. He’d given a talk about the women testing at his clinic, research that was garnering useful data but as yet was not a formal woman-in-space program. His talk had, nevertheless, energized the crowd, and as the lone tested female pilot in attendance, Jerrie became the focus of attention. She’d played the part well, posing on a small flight of stairs next to a mockup of a Mercury capsule looking more like a model than a pilot desperate to fly it. Helena Cobb and Tom Harris were also there, and Jerrie was pleased that her mother and boss were seeing her rubbing elbows with the country’s space elite.
Over dinner, Jim was so hotly sought after that Jerrie barely had a chance to speak with him, and certainly had no chance to discuss her recent letter detailing her Pensacola testing. They still hadn’t had a chance to talk when, toward the end of the evening, Jim took to the podium to address the 2,000-person crowd. He talked about the president’s call to land a man on the Moon, and about the conversations he’d had about the space program with Oklahoma senators Robert Kerr and Mike Monroney.
“On one matter of interest to Oklahoma, and I have kept silent until now. This relates to the appointment of Jerrie Cobb as a consultant to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.”
Jerrie hadn’t expected to come up in Jim’s remarks. She held her breath as he continued.
“Recently, at one of our meetings with consultants in Washington, I asked Dr. Randolph Lovelace if he thought Jerrie could contribute to our program. He enthusiastically endorsed this idea. I understand that Jerrie has now finished all of the psychological tests which were basic to the selection of NASA’s seven astronauts. So I expect to ask her to serve as a consultant on the role of women in the national space program.”
She barely heard the rest of his remarks; her mind was swimming with his mention of her role as a possible NASA consultant. This is it, Jerrie thought to herself. I finally have a chance to have a say in America’s move into space.
17Between about $5,150 and $6,865 in 2019.
18About $63,500 in 2019.
19About $340 billion in 2019.
20About $4,710,952,470 in 2019.
21About $343,238,795,990 in 2019.
Chapter 19
Paris, End of May 1961
“Dear Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainee,” Jerrie’s letter began.
Just three days after Jim mentioned making her a NASA consultant, Jerrie was in Paris for the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s Salon Aéronautique, but she could scarcely keep her mind on aviation. She could only think about space and couldn’t resist writing to the other women to bring some order to their group. She’d already written her first official letter to Jim Webb reiterating her opinion that fast-tracking a female orbital mission could be the way for America to jump ahead of the Soviet Union. She was urging him to right the power balance between nations with a female flight, at the same time bringing admiration and respect to the American space program. Launching a woman could even serve as a display of confidence in American technology, a clear demonstration that its boosters were safer than the Soviets’. Jerrie couldn’t see any negatives to the idea, and she felt sure that her God-given purpose was to be the first woman in space.
From her room at the Hôtel de Crillon in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, Jerrie wrote congratulatory letters to the seven women who’d passed the Lovelace tests. She warned them that things were only going to get more difficult from here, that the Pensacola testing was demanding and that they should begin preparing for a new physical challenge. She
also sent each woman a waiver for their week in Pensacola. But far from an official government form, it was something she’d drawn up herself and asked they return directly to her.
International Women’s Air and Space Museum
Two days later, a different letter ruined Jackie’s day at the same Salon Aéronautique. It said that the successful Lovelace pilots would all be at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola for their testing around mid-June, just two weeks hence. The last she’d heard from Randy was that this testing phase wouldn’t happen before fall. The letter also told her that Jerrie, apparently on her way to an appointment as a NASA consultant, had already passed the Pensacola tests. The worst part, though, was that the letter hadn’t come from Randy, the Lovelace Clinic, or even Jerrie. It had come from one of the other Lovelace women.
Jackie felt like the whole program was slipping away from her. She was Randy’s financial backer and consultant, but she hadn’t been consulted on the LIFE magazine stories about Jerrie’s testing, and she hadn’t had any say in the shortlist of women he’d invited to the clinic earlier that year. The press kept coming to her with questions about the “women astronaut” program that didn’t exist, and she knew so little about it that the best she could do was answer with vague generalities. It all made her look clueless and the test program disorganized. And now, according to this letter, Randy had put Jerrie forward as a NASA consultant instead of her. She couldn’t shake the feeling that he was deliberately trying to force her out for some reason, and after nearly a quarter of a century of friendship she couldn’t understand it. Hurt and confused, she called Floyd and told him everything.
After hanging up with her husband, Jackie sought out Jerrie to figure out what was going on. Since both women were staying in the same hotel, Jackie had her secretary leave Jerrie a note suggesting they catch up. Jerrie left her reply with the hotel’s front desk, a handwritten note on hotel stationery suggesting they meet for a drink in the bar that evening. Jackie’s secretary replied, inviting Jerrie to Jackie’s room for cocktails that evening, but she never arrived.
The following morning, Jackie picked up Jerrie’s reply from the concierge. “I accepted a dinner invitation,” said another handwritten note, “and as is usually the case in Paris, when I returned to the Hotel it was too late to call you. Am on my way to NYC now.” Still without any resolution, Jackie was left frustrated in Paris.
Eisenhower Presidential Library
While Jackie was trying to arrange a face-to-face meeting with Jerrie, Floyd composed a long letter to Randy marked “personal and confidential.” Dispensing with pleasantries, he launched right into a defense of his wife. How was Jackie supposed to talk to the press or serve as a consultant if he, Randy, insisted on keeping her in the dark, Floyd wanted to know. “Jackie does not want to be around if you don’t want her,” Floyd wrote, adding that if Randy did want her involved that she had to be consulted on all communications and group planning. Whatever Randy’s issue, it was to stop now. “If you have personal or other problems dealing with the point of this personal letter you should lay them on the table because, as I said above, Jackie is rather unhappy.” Then Floyd offered Randy the benefit of the doubt. “I don’t want it to get to a distressing state and it may be due to confusion or misunderstanding on her part and her reluctance to bring her thoughts or impressions up for discussion.” There might be a simple way to smooth things over.
Randy replied a week later with a letter marked PERSONAL. He began with flattery, congratulating Floyd on his election to the board of directors for the Air Force Association and the Space Education Foundation. Then he got to the matter of the women’s testing. He assured Floyd that the latest group of women Jackie had suggested had all been invited to the clinic and that the navy had expressed its willingness to host them in July or August, though the date could certainly be pushed back if that was her preference.
On the matter of Jerrie, Randy promised he’d had nothing to do with her being in contact with NASA. From what he knew, she’d met Jim through their mutual acquaintance Senator Robert Kerr from Oklahoma. “I was as much surprised as anyone else when Mr. Webb stated that Miss Cobb was to be a consultant to him,” Randy wrote. “As you know, the previous position of the NASA had been 100% against any examination procedures for girls. As far as the LIFE commitment, the only statement we have made publicly came out in Parade magazine.”
Randy made it clear that each woman knew Jackie was her financial benefactor and pointed to the letters of thanks she’d gotten from the candidates as proof. He ended with a promise to send Jackie carbon copies of all the correspondence in connection with the program going forward and asked that she be the one to write to the candidates about smoking and exercise in advance of the Pensacola tests. At the bottom of the last page, he added a hand-scrawled postscript. “P.S.: I consider Jackie and you the couple I am closest too of all the couples I know.” Awkward syntax and messy grammar didn’t matter. He needed his old friend to understand his raw emotion.
But Randy had other matters on his plate. Almost as soon as Jack Kennedy announced the lunar mission, Randy was asked to help NASA figure out who should go to the Moon. It was clear the agency needed a group larger than seven astronauts who could be trained for this complex and dangerous mission as it developed. In his own role as a NASA consultant, Randy co-advised that recruitment of more astronauts should begin immediately, potentially widening the pool to include civilians with special scientific skills that would enhance lunar exploration and research. Whatever he said to Floyd and however much he valued Jackie as a personal friend, Randy knew his position with NASA held national importance and implications for his career longevity. Though he had a medical interest in women as potential astronauts, he wasn’t going to jeopardize his relationship with NASA by fighting for something that had no bearing on NASA’s lunar landing goal. He needed to help choose moonwalkers.
Randy’s letter assuaged Jackie’s hurt feelings and restored her confidence. She wasted no time in voicing her desires for the program as well as her concerns in her reply midway through June.
Pleased though she was to hear that the navy had consented to examine the female pilots as a group at Pensacola, there were some final details that needed sorting out. Logistically, she needed to know how long the group would be in Florida and how she would get each of them the money to cover their expenses. As far as the tests were concerned, she wondered if there shouldn’t be a final physical exam beforehand to make sure they were in peak shape. She also wanted to know whether the group would be narrowed down further to weed out candidates who weren’t serious about the program. To that end, she suggested Randy get them all to commit to subsequent tests—should there be further tests—before she spent a lot of money sending them to Pensacola.
She ended the letter with a thinly veiled slight toward Jerrie. “It is apparent that one of the girls has an ‘in’ and expects to lead the pack.” She knew, albeit secondhand, that Jerrie had written to the other pilots establishing herself as their de facto leader and seemed to believe they were actual astronaut candidates. “Favoritism would make the project smell to high heaven,” Jackie wrote. “Furthermore, I think to make it a publicity project for LIFE or any one else would be a mistake. There has been much unfavorable comment as to this concerning the astronauts. This should be a serious quiet project from now on. Naturally, there will be some publicity concerning it from time to time but it should be of the conservative type issued by a segment of the Armed Service involved. To have any one or more of the participants tied exclusively or at all to any particular publication would be a mistake. Also it would be a mistake for a participant to be on a special status with the NASA or any other branch of the Armed Services.” She suggested the best course of action was for a non-competitor, someone not taking the tests, to be made the official leader of this research program. Someone like herself.
Oblivious to the arguments between Jackie and Randy, Sarah Gorelick arrived in Albuquerque alone on
June 18. She was excited about the medical testing. Like so many Americans, Sarah had been inspired by Jack Kennedy’s rousing call in his inauguration speech for citizens to step up for their country. She felt that being part of preliminary research into a female astronaut program was the best thing she could do, because the letter made her feel that this was a legitimate program. The problem was that she had already used up her vacation time from her job as an engineer with AT&T. She did, however, have some savings she could dip into; she lived frugally to make sure she always had enough money to keep a plane. Taking unpaid leave, she left for her week in New Mexico.
Without another pilot with whom to debrief at the end of a long, hard day, Sarah found companionship in the clinic nurses, who took her out drinking or on the town every night, giving her a chance to blow off some steam. At the end of her week, Sarah became the ninth woman to complete the medical tests. Her conversations with Randy left her with the impression that the program had a definite future.
K Cagle arrived a week later, on June 30. She, too, went through the tests alone and became the tenth woman to finish the medical tests.
As July began, the nine women preparing to follow in Jerrie’s footsteps at Pensacola made their arrangements, which was easier said than done. Women who couldn’t get time off from work had to decide whether it was worth quitting their jobs. Those with children had to arrange a week of babysitting. For some, the challenge was managing their expectations of where this testing could lead. Across the board, they put everything on the line for something that held no promise yet captured their imagination.
Fighting for Space Page 26
