**Questions for the speaker can be submitted on the Registration page.**
\nJ oin us for an exhilarating journey through the history of US women astrona uts with Valerie Neal\, emerita curator from the Smithsonian's National Ai r and Space Museum and expert on human spaceflight.
\nSally Ride bec ame a household name as the first American woman in space\, but scores of equally impressive women have also left their mark in space. \;On a Mi ssion: 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 man y of the US women astronauts to bring their experiences to life. She offer s a culturally insightful history of their achievements\, the challenges t hey've faced\, and their distinctive stories. Collectively\, they've compl eted more than 100 space shuttle missions\, and more than 30 long-duration stays on the International Space Station and Russian Space Station Mir\, and they continue to prove themselves in present-day space exploration eff orts.
\nThe book includes 50 black-and-white photographs to compleme nt the historical account. With its sweeping look from the first women ast ronauts to Christina Hammock Koch\, assigned to the first crewed Artemis m ission around the Moon\, there is no comparably thorough book on America's women astronauts. \;On a Mission \;is an inspiring tribute to uns ung women's history.
\nRegister now to take part in this inspiration al discussion! \;
\nAbout the Author: \;Valerie Neal is a sp ace historian and Curator Emerita at the Smithsonian National Air and Spac e Museum in Washington DC. Her specialty is human spaceflight\, space tech nology\, and space science in the Space Shuttle era and beyond. At the Mus eum\, she collected more than 1500 artifacts of the shuttle era\, curated three exhibitions and eight documentary programs for the Smithsonian Chann el (cable TV)\, published books and articles growing from her research\, l ectured in the USA and abroad\, and gave many interviews for US and intern ational media. \;
\nBefore joining the Museum\, she was a writer and editor for some 25 NASA publications on Space Shuttle and Spacelab mi ssions\, the Hubble Space Telescope and other Great Observatories\, space science\, and NASA History. She participated in underwater astronaut train ing in Alabama and mission support in Houston for four Space Shuttle missi ons. She has taught American Studies and writing courses at multiple unive rsities. Valerie Neal holds Ph.D. and M.A. degrees in American Studies and a B.A. degree in English and History.
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