The Six: The Untold Story of America's First Women Astronauts

“The Six”By Loren Grush[Scribner, September 2023] This masterful saga of the first 6 female astronauts has been a long-time coming. Growing up, author Loren Grush’s parents worked at the Johnson Space Center during the shuttle era, and she has been a space reporter for various publications. In this book, Grush describes the in-grained sexism in the military and later NASA that was prevalent in the 1950s and 60s. The first astronauts were required to be test pilots; women at that time were not allowed to be pilots, let alone test pilots. With the space shuttle planned for the late 1970s, NASA realized that mission specialists, who were not necessarily pilots, would be needed to operate the shuttle. They opened up an astronaut selection process in 1977 to include PhDs, people of color, and women. The first shuttle astronaut group, named in 1978, included 35 candidates, among them six female astronauts. This book is the story of Sally Ride, Anna Fisher, Judy Resnik, Kathy Sullivan, Rhea Seddon, and Shannon Lucid. The book has chapters about how each derived an interest in space; the application and interview process; training; their first missions; and a little about their activities after leaving the Astronaut Office. Grush faced obstacles in telling their stories. Judy Resnik died in the Challenger accident in 1986, and Sally Ride passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2012. Grush was not able to interview Kathy Sullivan and Anna Fisher due to “contractual obligations” (?), although she was able to ask Fisher questions in public Q&As at KSC’s Astronaut Encounters. A true reporter, Grush conducted almost 40 interviews, mainly by Zoom during COVID, of Anna Fisher, Shannon Lucid, Rhea Seddon and many of their fellow astronauts; influential NASA officials such as George Abbey and Wayne Hale; and friends/lovers of The Six. For example, to understand Sally Ride, Grush talked to Ride’s “life partner” Tam O’Shaughnessy, her former husband Steve Hawley, her childhood friend Sue Okie and her biographer Lynn Sherr, among others. She pored over NASA History Office’s documents and oral history recordings made by all of The Six except Judy Resnik. Kathy Sullivan, Rhea Seddon and Shannon Lucid each wrote books which served as important sources. The amount of research involved in this project was prodigious. Even though the book is 422 pages long, it is well-edited and could have been longer with the wealth of material uncovered by Grush. In my opinion, each of The Six merits a separate biography because their stories are unique and interesting.“The Six” will likely be the definitive story of America’s first female astronauts. It is well-written, thoroughly researched, and relates the stories of six intelligent and accomplished pioneers. Very highly recommended!

Blasted through this in two days!I love history, especially the history of America's space program, as well as feminist lit, so this book was a must read for me. I checked out the audiobook from the library first, however, because I've been burnt before on books that promised to be great and were absolutely terrible. Well, I'd barely finished the audio version when I immediately bought the hardback for my collection--it's wonderfully written, not too bogged down in the science and carefully sets the stage at NASA for what exactly these women were going to face.The book summarizes Nasa's attitude toward women prior to the hiring campaign that hired the Six and why it was so important that this happened. It also summarizes the women's live before they came to NASA. After this, it details the Six's hiring process, training, and work for NASA. It finishes on the very tragic note of the Challenger Disaster and what the remaining five went through as NASA once again changed.My only issue was that it really took me a while to differentiate who was who when the book would switch from one woman's life to another's. But that's to be expected when jumping through six different lives simultaneously.

A story of the time- women had no respect- insight into the space program.

I found this book to be emotionally significant, informative, and well written. It is also quite readable. It describes six brilliant and gutsy women who became the first female astronauts to be selected for America’s NASA Human Space Program. NASA advertised, tested, and then selected these women, ending decades of non-inclusion. These early female pioneers worked hard and succeeded in their endeavors, with one ending her career in tragedy. In the end they became the inspiration for today’s female astronauts, plus multitudes of NASA women engineers, scientists, managers, and technicians. The author has clearly researched deeply into the lives of these women, documenting their sense of adventure, their education, their can-do attitudes and stubbornness, the early difficulties they experienced, their friendships with fellow astronauts and NASA workers and managers, and the families and friends that cared about them. The women’s humanity and strengths are well explored and celebrated, while their doubts and weaknesses are handled with a sensitive touch. This book can be inspirational for girls and young women in STEM today who may wish to try for a career in space or other technical endeavors. But it is a fine read for everyone. In addition the author nicely brings to life the early days of the US Space Shuttle Program, making it approachable for all readers, even those with limited knowledge of hardware and space technology. I recommend this book and give it five stars.

I did not purchase this book. However, I did get it for my Kindle through the Libby app. It is a lengthy book, but I had a very hard time putting it down. The women and other personnel are depicted very well throughout its entirety. There are so many interviews Loren Grush are very in-depth and really make this book an excellent read especially if you even remotely enjoy any aspect of the space program.