Gene Nora Jessen, the “Mercury 13” Pilot Never Wanted to Fly in Space

In 1961, a group of women took the same medical tests given to the Mercury astronauts. Their story has since become a feminist legend: thirteen brave women known as the “Mercury 13” banded together to take on NASA and Washington for their chance to fly in space… except that’s not what happened. Not at all.

Twelve women were preparing for further testing purely as research subjects, not thirteen. They were not affiliated with NASA or the Mercury program. They were never known as the “Mercury 13,” that name was a play on the term “Mercury 7” coined by a Hollywood producer in the 1990s. They also never met as a group. Most of them knew each other from the flying circuit and crossed paths from time to time, but by the time they attended Eileen Collins’ 1995 launch, two had passed from cancer. They also never agreed on the status of the “program” or even what should be done with women as astronauts. For some, it was the end-all, the ultimate pinnacle of their flying lives. For others, it was a week of testing with no promise of anything further, just something fun to try.

In writing my new book, Fighting for Space, I had the benefit of thousands of pages of letters and other primary sources. I was able to let the women speak for themselves. I also had the chance to speak with one directly, Gene Nora Jessen, who goes by her maiden name of Stumbough in the book. Even fifty years later, Gene Nora (pronounced like one word, “Genora”) recalls the issue of women astronauts as…