Jerrie Cobb
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Geraldyn ("Jerrie") M. Cobb (b. 1931 in Norman, Oklahoma) is an American aviator. She was also part of the Mercury 13, a group of women who underwent some of the same physiological screening tests as the original Mercury Seven astronauts.
As a child growing up in Oklahoma, Cobb took to aviation at an early age, with her father's encouragement. Cobb first flew in a plane at age four, in her father's open cockpit biplane. By the age of 17, Cobb had earned her private pilot's license, and received her commercial pilots license a year later.
Although she successfully completed some of the screening tests used to select male astronaut candidates, this was not a NASA program and she was unable to rally support in Congress for adding women to the astronaut program. Cobb fought, along with other Mercury 13 participants, to be allowed to train alongside the men, but was finally turned away for good when Vice President Lyndon Johnson added his response to a memo outlining the situation and the women's impressive qualifications: "Let's stop this. Now."[1]
At the time, Cobb had already flown 64 types of aircraft, including a jet fighter. She had set records for speed, distance and absolute altitude.
After retiring from NASA, Cobb began missionary work in South America, performing humanitarian flying and surveying new air routes to remote areas.[2]
She has recently been the subject of a National Organization for Women campaign to send her to space (like Senator John Glenn) to investigate the effects of aging on women.
She has received numerous honors, including the Harmon Trophy.
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[edit] Awards
- Amelia Earhart Gold Medal of Achievement
- Named Woman of the Year in Aviation
- Amelia Earhart Memorial Award
- Named Pilot of the Year by the National Pilots Association
- Fourth American to be awarded Gold Wings of the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, Paris, France
- Named Captain of Achievement by International Academy of Achievement
- Served five years as a consultant to the Federal Aviation Administration
- Appointed consultant to NASA
- Honored by the government of Ecuador for pioneering new air routes over the Andes Mountains and Andes jungle
- Awarded Harmon International Trophy for "The Worlds Best Woman Pilot" by President Richard Nixon at a White House ceremony
- Inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame as "the Most Outstanding Aviatrix in the US
- Received Pioneer Woman Award for her "courageous frontier spirit" flying all over the Amazon jungle serving primitive Indian tribes
- Received honorary Doctor of Science degree from University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh
[edit] Notes
- ^ Stephanie Nolen. Promised the Moon: The untold story of the first women in the space race. Penguin Canada, Toronto, 2002. p. 300.
- ^ UW Oshkosh biography
^ Ackmann, Martha, The Mercury 13.
[edit] References
Ackmann, Martha (2003). The Mercury 13: The Untold Story of Thirteen American Women and the Dream of Space Flight. ISBN 0-375-50744-2.
[edit] External links
- Lovelace's Woman In Space Accessed March 31, 2007.
