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Astronauts

The Mercury 13 – Women Pilots Aiming for the Stars

The Mercury 13 – Women Pilots Aiming for the Stars

Mar 27, 2023

Since March is Women’s History Month, I thought I would write this blog post about some courageous women pilots who have been largely forgotten by time and are not widely recognized today.  I am referring to the history of the First Lady Astronaut Trainees, more commonly known as the Mercury 13.  This group of women were secretly evaluated to see if they might be suitable astronaut candidates for America’s first human spaceflight program in the early 1960s. The thirteen women pilots, eager to participate in the space race against the Soviet Union, were subjected to the same rigorous tests that...

Houston Quilt Festival 2014

Houston Quilt Festival 2014

Jan 4, 2018

The fortieth anniversary of the Houston Quilt Festival was held in November 2014 and I made a point to go – in fact it felt more like a pilgrimage than anything else.  I signed up to volunteer at the NASA booth, which was expected to be busy, because astronaut Karen Nyberg was going to be speaking at the show that afternoon.  I asked my friend and mentor Gail to go with me; she immediately agreed and even reserved a government vehicle for us, which I really appreciated.  In this way, I had someone to keep me company in the car...

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  All text and original artwork copyright © Julie Henkener 2025.