Fighting for Space

Starred review from July 1, 2020

Spaceflight historian Teitel tells the empowering true story of two female pilots who fought to be the first women in space. This dual biography captures the brilliant lives of Jackie Cochran and Jerrie Cobb as they trailblazed their way into the cockpit and into the hearts of millions of Americans. Both became pilots at a time in America when women were expected to restrict themselves to the domestic sphere--certainly not setting flying records or breaking the space barrier. Cochran and Cobb fought against sexism and proved time and again that they belonged in the air. The dawn of the space age brought new dreams and both women longed to get into space. Cobb took all the same tests as America's first astronauts and refused to let the matter lie. She had already proved she could be a pilot, she could prove that she was astronaut material as well. The book is passionately narrated by the author, who gives both women vim and vigor, causing them to leap from the page right into the listener's imagination. This inspiring story highlights two women that challenged the social norms and used their grit and determination to prove themselves the equal of any man in the air or the atmosphere. VERDICT An awe-inducing biography that space junkies, feminists, and historians will eat up.--Erin Cataldi, Johnson Cty. P.L., Franklin, IN

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2020
A dual biography reveals women's trailblazing roles in aviation. Spaceflight historian Teitel (Breaking the Chains of Gravity: The Story of Spaceflight Before NASA, 2016), who was an embedded journalist with the New Horizons mission to Pluto team in 2015, brings considerable excitement and knowledge about U.S. space programs to her close look at the life and career of two pioneering women pilots: Jackie Cochran (1906-1980) and Jerrie Cobb (1931-2019). At the start of her career, Cochran fought to be taken seriously, facing down men who tried to discourage her. The winner of multiple awards for her flying prowess, she was the only female entrant in the 1937 Bendix race, which added "a new women's cross-country speed record" to her accomplishments. In 1938, she was named "First Lady of the Air Lanes." At the start of World War II, she established the Women's Flying Training Detachment, a precursor to the Women Airforce Service Pilots program, instituted at 120 Air Force bases, where women pilots tested planes, flew simulated operations, and flew cargo, weapons, and personnel around the country. Cochran directed the WASP program and flew bomber planes during the war. She also became a war correspondent for a magazine that her wealthy and doting husband bought to facilitate her overseas assignments. In 1956, Cochran lost a congressional bid, but she used her celebrity and money to support women's training as aviators. Cobb, a generation younger, confronted the same prejudice against women pilots that Cochran faced. A NASA administrator who opposed a female astronaut program once described himself as "one of the old school" in favor of keeping women "barefoot and pregnant." Nevertheless, Cobb proved as ardent as Cochran, submitting herself as a test subject for astronaut training, recruiting other women pilots, and lobbying with NASA director James Webb to admit women as astronauts. Cobb faced opposition not only from NASA, but also from Cochran, who adamantly opposed women's astronaut training; wielding her high-level political connections (Lyndon Johnson was a friend), she saw Cobb's efforts quashed. A well-researched contribution to women's and aviation history.

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