2 Commanders Bringing NASA Closer to Gender Equality in Space

MIAMI _ It might seem simultaneously dated and overdue, but NASA’s astronaut corps is preparing to observe a cultural milestone: For the first time in the 50-year history of space flight, two women will be leading missions at the same time.

Astronaut Peggy Whitson assumed command last week of the International Space Station, breaking an all-male hold on running the orbiting outpost.

And, if all goes well, shuttle Discovery and a seven-person crew led by Pamela Melroy will blast into space Tuesday on a 14-day flight that will carry them to a rendezvous with the station and a reunion with Whitson.

The astronauts and their bosses at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration say this is just a coincidence, but a happy one that points to a more gender-equal future for the space program.

“This is a really special event for us,” Melroy said during a preflight news conference. “I think it is just indicative that there are enough women in the program that, coincidentally, this can happen. It’s just a wonderful thing.”

Discovery is scheduled for liftoff at 11:38 a.m. EDT Tuesday from the Kennedy Space Center. On Sunday, mission managers reported no problems aboard Discovery. Forecasters predicted a 60 percent chance of favorable weather.

It will be Melroy’s third flight in space, but her first as shuttle commander. And it comes eight years after NASA astronaut Eileen Collins became the first woman to command a shuttle mission.

Melroy, who prefers to focus on operational achievements rather than historical or sociological footnotes, said she was pleased that Collins flew through NASA’s glass ceiling first.

“I think it is a tremendous additional burden along with all of the additional responsibilities you have as a commander, to carry that with you,” she said.

As it turned out, history came calling anyway.

“I thought I was going to dodge the bullet, but now we’ve got two woman commanders in space, so now it’s coming back to everybody’s attention,” Melroy said.

“I don’t particularly care for the spotlight, but having said that, I think it’s just fun now and I’m very relaxed about it,” she said. “I don’t think it’s taking away from the mission, which would be my biggest concern.”

Like Collins, Melroy, 46, served as an Air Force officer and test pilot, important qualifications for shuttle commanders. Whitson, 47, is a biochemist, a veteran NASA employee and an astronaut who spent 185 days on the station in 2002.

Launched into space Oct. 10 aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, Whitson formally took over the station Friday afternoon. “Peggy Annette Whitson, Ph.D., is in command of ISS now,” Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin said during a brief ceremony.

“I think it’s special that I get the opportunity to play that role,” Whitson said in comments distributed by NASA. “But I think it’s also special to have an opportunity to demonstrate how many other women also work at NASA.”

Still, NASA didn’t begin selecting women as astronauts until 1978 and women still comprise only about 20 percent of the astronaut corps, suggesting that the agency has a way to go.

Even now, few women have the military and flight credentials considered prerequisites for shuttle commanders.

“It’s very tough,” Melroy said. “You have to have a technical degree, then you have to choose to go into one of the military services and become a jet pilot, then they have to choose to become a test pilot.

“So you’re talking about maybe a dozen, certainly under two dozen, women in the world who are actually qualified.”

But the times are still changing, and more opportunities will present themselves to space pioneers.

“It says a lot about the first 50 years of space flight that this is where we’re at,” Melroy said, “and I look forward to the next 50 years including a lot of women commanders, including one going to the moon.”

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(c) 2007, The Miami Herald.

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ARCHIVE PHOTOS on MCT Direct (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): Peggy Whitson, Pamela Melroy

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