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

Learn how the “celestial” glass ceiling was broken

This book is about the first six women that were chosen to be a part of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. It chronicles the eclectic paths they took in becoming astronauts and also highlights their incredible achievements on their respective missions in orbit. It includes the story of Sally Ride, America’s first woman in space, as well as Judy Resnik, who tragically died in the Challenger explosion in 1986.   Two things stood out to me in this book.  The first was the rigorous level of academic, physical, and mental qualifications that one must possess to become an astronaut. Second, even though each of these women were extremely qualified, it was surprising to read about the amount of sexism each of them had to endure once they were accepted into the program in the late 1970s.  This is a great read for “armchair space explorers”, especially given the current interest in NASA’s Artemis (moon exploration) Program.