Amelia Earhart's Daughters: The Wild and Glorious Story of American Women Aviators from World War II to the Dawn of the Space Age

In 1942, with war raging on two fronts and military pilots in short supply, the U.S. Army Air Force launched a small, cautious experiment -- it invited a handful of skilled female aviators to serve in its Ferrying Division, delivering military planes from factories to air bases all over the country. Eventually, more than 1,000 women served their country as Women's Airforce Service Pilots. These women were much more than subs -- they flew B-26s when men were afraid to, flew every aircraft in the inventory of the U.S. Army Air Force, and logged over six million miles in all kinds of weather. Led by the famous aviatrix Jacqueline Cochran, these forgotten women were superb pilots, the equals of any fighter jock. In 1961, Dr. Randolph Lovelace, a member of NASA's Life Sciences Committee, invited 13 women to participate in what he termed a 'Women in Space' program. The women were given cause to hope that NASA would allow at least one of them to fly as an astronaut. The matter went as far as Congress, where it was debated in two days of dramatic hearings that included testimony from astronauts John Glenn and Scott Carpenter. Unfortunately, although these women had the right stuff, it was the wrong time for women in space. This is a story of dreams fulfilled and dreams deferred, a story of fierce patriotism, courage, and heartbreak, and a story of two generations of women aviators who have too long been forgotten.