Women Spacefarers - Sixty Different Paths to Space

This book tells the fascinating stories of the valiant women who broke down barriers to join the space program. Beginning with the orbital flight of USSR cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova in 1963, they became players in the greatest adventure of our time. The author contextualizes their accomplishments in light of the political and cultural climate, from the Cold War in the background to the changing status of women in society at large during the Seventies.

The book includes the biographies of, and in some cases interviews with, the sixty women who flew in space in the first half century of space history. It reports their achievements and some little known details. The result is a gallery of pioneering women who reached for the stars: women who, with exceptional skill, hard work, and dedication, reached impressive careers as accomplished pilots, researchers, and engineers; many are now in high level managerial positions both at NASA or in public and private organizations, and all left a legacy of strength.


Umberto Cavallaro is editor of AD*ASTRA, the quarterly Journal of AS.IT.AF (Italian Astrophilately Society). His professional activity led him to cooperate for many years with ESA, the European Space Agency. Author of 'Propaganda e Pragmatismo in gara per la conquista della Luna' ('Propaganda & Pragmatism in race to the Moon' Impremix, Torino 2011) and 'Donne nello Spazio' ('Women inSpace', Mursia, Milano 2015), he has translated into Italian several publications, including 'The All-American Boys' by Walter Cunningham, an Apollo VII astronaut.