The Six: The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts by Loren Grush

 

Title: The Six:  The Untold Story of America’s First Women Astronauts

Author:  Loren Grush

Narrated by:  Ines del Castillo

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 11 hours and 41 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you @simonandschuster @BookClubFavorites #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

Can you name the first six women astronauts?  Before I read this book, I only knew about the first woman in space, Sally Ride.  I was very happy to learn the remarkable story of the first class of female astronauts selected in 1978:  Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Kathy Sullivan, Anna Fisher, Margaret “Rhea” Seddon, and Shannon Lucid through the new book The Six by Loren Grush.

My thoughts on this book: 

·       I read this both as a physical book and listened to the audiobook.  I liked that the book had a brief two pages of the “cast of characters” describing the six women astronauts.  It helped me to keep the ladies straight while I was listening to the audiobook.  I would reference this section often at the start of the book.

·       The physical book has great pictures and index.

·       Nichelle Nichols visited Nasa’s newly named Johnson Space Center to talk about the space shuttle and a new crop of astronauts.  These astronauts were going to be more than just test pilots.  They wanted scientists and engineers, women, and people of color to apply.  This sounds like it was a very inspirational pitch that got a lot of people to apply.

·       Just like their male counterparts, all six women were extraordinary, very smart, and successful people.

·       Unfortunately, the novelty of female astronauts caused a lot of press and strange questions to them.  I can’t imagine as an engineer being asked about make-up and dating rather than your skills that got you to your position.

·       I really identified with Judy Resnik and loved her story.  I was horrified to discover that she was killed on the Challenger.  I was eight when the Challenger exploded, and we watched it live on TV at school.  Christa McAuliffe, a schoolteacher going to space to show that space travel was for everyone, is the person that most stuck in my mind from this disaster.  I was glad to learn more about the rest of the crew.

·       Besides learning the early history of each woman and why they became astronauts, and how they made their way through training and going to space, I learned a great deal about the space program in the 1970s and 1980s.

·       I also learned a lot about the Challenger disaster and Sally Ride’s involvement in the investigation afterwards.  I want to learn more.

·       Each woman was treated in the book as an individual and we also learned about their lives outside of the space program.

·       Sally Ride was chosen as the first woman in space as it was believed she could best handle the overwhelming attention she received.  It is amazing how much attention she received compared to the other five women.

·       The writing was very engaging, and I learned a lot from this nonfiction book.  I read most of this book for Women’s History month in March and finished it up at the beginning of April.

 Overall, The Six is a captivating nonfiction book that chronicles that true stories of the first six women astronauts.  I recommend it to everyone.