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When you start at zero, everything's progress. -
She was one of my biggest inspirations. May she R.I.P. -
I can't begin to tell you how exciting it was for me when she went into space. A lot of people may not be aware that in the early days of the space program, women were at first seriously considered for astronaut training, due to size/weight restrictions on the first rockets. The women who tried out for the program often scored higher than the men on a lot of the tests. But it was dangerous, and the top brass decided that Americans wouldn't be able to handle it if women were killed while taking part in any of this. The fact that a bunch of hot-shot test pilots didn't want to be shown up by "the girls" didn't enter into it, of course
So they decided to stick with male astronauts. All of whom I respect, by the way. Keeping women out of the program was not, in the end, their decision, it was the decision of the people in charge.
Even though I could never have done what Sally and the other astronauts have done, in a small way it was like she was there for me. It wasn't Star Trek or some other fantasy....it was real.
When you start at zero, everything's progress.Comment
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Sally Ride
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