MERCURY 13 – Review

Some of the women who were tested and trained the same as the Mercury 7 astronauts before NASA shut the unofficial program down, the topic of the Netflix documentary MERCURY 13, premiering on April 20. Photo courtesy of Netflix and Falco Ink.

Did you know that there were a group of women pilots who went through the same testing and training as the male pilots who became NASA’s first astronauts, the Mercury 7? Despite the fact that 13 of the women achieved the same scores or even higher than the men chosen as astronauts, none of the women were even considered for the space program.

Likely most of you answered no, which is why this hidden bit of history makes such a good subject for MERCURY 13, a documentary debuting on Netflix on April 20. HIDDEN FIGURES uncovered the untold story of mathematically-gifted women who played key roles in NASA’s space program yet went unrecognized or worse. The women in that fictionalized true story were black and faced the racial discrimination of that era, but gender was equally a barrier in the male-dominated culture of the ’50s and early ’60s.

MERCURY 13 is a documentary that spotlights another group of unsung female heroes from the space program, the women pilots who successfully completed the same rigorous testing and training the Mercury 7 astronauts were put through. Yet these women were never even considered for a spot as an astronaut, despite some superior scores, simply because in the early 1960s, the mere idea of a woman astronaut was considered ludicrous.

The documentary Mercury 13 spotlights the women who were given the same qualifying testing as the Mercury 7 astronauts but were excluded from becoming astronauts simply because they were women. Even after the Soviet Union, the U.S.’s Cold War adversary and competitor in the space race, put a woman in space.

The documentary includes a quip from astronaut John Glenn after Russian cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova orbited the planet, a moment guaranteed to make steam come out of the ears of most women now but was typical of the era then. So how did women even get to train for space?

The answer to that question, and many more, are contained in this well-made, engrossing documentary. The woman astronaut program was a privately-funded parallel project of the man who was in charge of the official NASA one but was kept secret, even from NASA. When NASA learned about it, it was quickly shut down.

The documentary is both inspiring and infuriating. Infuriating because of NASA’s deliberate exclusion of qualified women flyers from the space program and the sexist attitudes of the era, and inspiring because of the startling resilience and ability that these women still have, as well as their enduring love of flying.

Let’s name names. The Mercury 13 women were Myrtle Cagle, Jerrie Cobb, Janet Dietrich, Marion Dietrich, Wally Funk, Sarah Gorelick, Jane Hart, Jean Hixson, Rhea Hurrle, Gene Nora Stumbough, Irene Leverton, Jerri Sloan and Bernice Steadman, Many are featured in interviews in the film, and get to tell their story.

The man put in change of NASA’s program to select the first astronauts, dubbed Project Mercury, was William Randy Lovelace. NASA selected a homogeneous group of all-white, male, college-educated test pilots for its program. But Lovelace had enormous respect for women pilots and felt like they should be part of the program, if the idea were to select the best human beings to send into space. Not only did 13 of the 20 women candidates meet all the qualifications for the space program that the Mercury 7 men did, in some cases they did better than the men.

The film not only covers the astronaut training program and the women in it but puts it into the context of the remarkably strong presence women had in aviation from its beginning, as well as the military’s exclusionary policies towards women flyers. It recounts the Cold War space race, and the cultural attitudes of the time towards women. It also covers the later growth of NASA’s astronaut program.

There is plenty of fine archival footage and a combination of narration and interviews. The film lightly goes over the long history of women in aviation and singles out a few female pilots who would later play a role in the Mercury 13 story.

One of the treats of this engrossing documentary is that it features on-camera interviews with many of the women who went through the astronauts training program. For others in the program, family members tell their stories. One of the highlights are interviews with the daughter of Lovelace, the man who headed NASA’s astronaut program, a man who felt women should be part of the space program and used his own money to see that they got their shot.

The women that were chosen for the program were mostly young pilots, but had varied backgrounds. Although Lovelace set a rule that all the women had to be single and childless, he was intrigued by Jane Hart, who was an accomplished pilot despite having eight children in ten years, and broke his own rule to include her in the program.

The stories are inspiring but the women themselves are the real charmers. They are all lively and infectiously enthusiastic about flying. Some of them also pepper their remarks with pointed jokes about how women were treated in that era, which adds a dash of humor.

The women who later became NASA astronauts certainly knew who the Mercury 13 were. When astronaut Eileen Collins was assigned as the first American woman to pilot the Space Shuttle in 1995, she invited the Mercury 13 to the ceremony so she could acknowledge them as heroes.

MERCURY 13 is a wonderful, entertaining and informative documentary, worthwhile for anyone but particularly for someone interested in the space program or aviation. Nearly everyone will find MERCURY 13 an enjoyable and informative experience. MERCURY 13 debuts on Netflix on April 20.

RATING: 4 1/2 out of 5 stars