by Melanie Ross Levin, Outreach Manager,
National Women’s Law Center
In the 1950s, as the space race was heating up, NASA trained a number of women to serve as astronauts. Sadly, that training was as far as they got.
Newly released medical tests published in the September Advances in Physiology Education prove that the female trainees performed better than their male counterparts in many categories — but they were denied the opportunity to serve as astronauts. NASA regulations kept the glass ceiling firmly in place, despite the evidence that women were very qualified to serve.
So what were the reasons for dismissing qualified women astronauts? It looks like women were held to a different — and unachievable — standard. According to Brandon Keim’s article in Weird Science,
“Some NASA officials speculated that female performance could be impaired by menstruation. Others wanted pilots who had already flown experimental military aircraft — something only men could have done, since women were barred from the Air Force.”
Does this type of reasoning sound familiar?
Recently, I posted about the intention of the Navy to move toward allowing women to serve aboard submarines. Until the Navy recently announced this intention, the stated reason for prohibiting women from permanent assignment aboard submarines was crew privacy. It’s long past time for women to serve on submarines or any other military or civilian positions they are qualified for.
I wonder how many other studies will emerge about women candidates who were lost to discrimination. And the problem isn’t only that these candidates were denied an opportunity — it’s that our nation’s pool of talented potential astronauts was cut for absolutely no reason beyond gender discrimination.
It wasn’t until 1995 that a woman became a space pilot. Now it’s 2009, and we’re still waiting for an American woman to serve on a submarine. At least we’re one step closer to justice — and one step closer to opening all positions for women.


