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Museum of Flight Lecture Launches in the Sixties Woman in Space Program

SEATTLE – In 1983, Sally Ride became the first American woman to go into space, but over twenty years earlier, 13 American women were engaged in a project to train the first female astronauts–the Woman in Space Program–and never got launched. On Feb. 20 at 2 p.m., aviation expert Philip Tartalone will lecture about the ill-fated program.

Woman in SpaceThe Woman in Space Program ran from 1960 to 1962 and produced the “Mercury 13,” the first U.S. women to undergo the strenuous physiological and psychological tests for spaceflight. These women never got the opportunity to launch into orbit. Tartalone’s presentation will explore the genesis of the Woman in Space Program, the personalities involved, the testing, and the social mores of the early 1960s that ultimately doomed the program. The presentation is free with admission to the Museum.

The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field halfway between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $20 for adults, $17 for seniors 65 and older, $17 for active military, $12 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5. Group rates are available. Admission on the first Thursday of the month is free from 5 to 9 p.m. courtesy of Wells Fargo. McCormick & Schmick’s Wings Café is on site. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org