Join us for an exhilarating journey through the history of US women astronauts with Va lerie Neal\, emerita curator from the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum and expert on human spaceflight.
\nSally Ride became a household name as the first American woman in spa ce\, but scores of equally impressive women have also left their mark in s pace. On a Mission: The Smithsonian History of US Women Astronauts spans 45 years and 61 astronauts to share the epic journeys of women who made space for themselves in a male-dominated field.
\nValerie Neal interviewed many of the US women astronauts to bring their experiences to life. She offers a culturally insightful hi story of their achievements\, the challenges they've faced\, and their dis tinctive stories. Collectively\, they've completed more than 100 space shu ttle missions\, and more than 30 long-duration stays on the International Space Station and Russian Space Station Mir\, and they continue to prove t hemselves in present-day space exploration efforts.
\nThe book includes 50 black-and-white photographs to comple ment the historical account. With its sweeping look from the first women a stronauts to Christina Hammock Koch\, assigned to the first crewed Art emis mission around the Moon\, there is no comparably thorough book o n America's women astronauts. On a Mission is an inspiring tribute to unsu ng women's history.
\nRegister now to take part in this inspirational discussion! \;
\nAbout th e Author: Valerie Neal is a space historian and Curator Em erita at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington DC. H er specialty is human spaceflight\, space technology\, and space science i n the Space Shuttle era and beyond. At the Museum\, she collected more tha n 1500 artifacts of the shuttle era\, curated three exhibitions and eight documentary programs for the Smithsonian Channel (cable TV)\, published bo oks and articles growing from her research\, lectured in the USA and abroa d\, and gave many interviews for US and international media. \;
\n< p style="text-align: justify\;">Before joining the Museum\, she was a writ er and editor for some 25 NASA publications on Space Shuttle and Spacelab missions\, the Hubble Space Telescope and other Great Observatories\, spac e science\, and NASA History. She participated in underwater astronaut tra ining in Alabama and mission support in Houston for four Space Shuttle mis sions. She has taught American Studies and writing courses at multiple uni versities. Valerie Neal holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in American Studies a nd a B.A. degree in English and History. \;\nBrough
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