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Bibliomaniac15 (talk | contribs) →Equal employment opportunity at NASA: paragon of what? assuming it's diversity based on context |
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The enactment of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972]] gave teeth to the promise of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] to address the persistent and entrenched [[employment discrimination]] against women, [[African Americans]] and other [[minority group]]s in American society.{{sfn|Foster|2011|pp=20–21}} Specifically, it empowered the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] to take enforcement action against individuals, employers, and labor unions that violated the employment provisions of the 1964 Act, and expanded the jurisdiction of the commission to deal with them.{{sfn|Rivers|1973|pp=460–461}} It also extended the scope of [[affirmative action]], mandating that all executive branch agencies also comply with the act.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=426}} Supporters of the legislation hoped that it would spur social change, but culture was not so easily changed. Women in science and engineering still found the culture off-putting, and while colleges dramatically increased their enrolment of women in these fields, many women found themselves in classrooms mostly filled with men, some of whom were openly hostile to their presence.{{sfn|Foster|2011|pp=20–21}} Although in the early 1970s women received 40 percent of the [[Phd]]s awarded in [[biology]], they represented just 4 percent of those in engineering; the 10 percent mark was not reached until the 1990s, by which time African Americans were awarded 2 percent of doctorates in all fields of science and engineering.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=425}} |
The enactment of the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972]] gave teeth to the promise of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] to address the persistent and entrenched [[employment discrimination]] against women, [[African Americans]] and other [[minority group]]s in American society.{{sfn|Foster|2011|pp=20–21}} Specifically, it empowered the [[Equal Employment Opportunity Commission]] to take enforcement action against individuals, employers, and labor unions that violated the employment provisions of the 1964 Act, and expanded the jurisdiction of the commission to deal with them.{{sfn|Rivers|1973|pp=460–461}} It also extended the scope of [[affirmative action]], mandating that all executive branch agencies also comply with the act.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=426}} Supporters of the legislation hoped that it would spur social change, but culture was not so easily changed. Women in science and engineering still found the culture off-putting, and while colleges dramatically increased their enrolment of women in these fields, many women found themselves in classrooms mostly filled with men, some of whom were openly hostile to their presence.{{sfn|Foster|2011|pp=20–21}} Although in the early 1970s women received 40 percent of the [[Phd]]s awarded in [[biology]], they represented just 4 percent of those in engineering; the 10 percent mark was not reached until the 1990s, by which time African Americans were awarded 2 percent of doctorates in all fields of science and engineering.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=425}} |
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The [[National Aeronautics and Space Agency]] (NASA) was no paragon in 1972. Most of its twelve major facilities were located in the [[southern United States]].{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=424}} Eight of them had created equal employment/affirmative action offices, but the staff of six of them was entirely white.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=428}} In 1971, the [[List of administrators and deputy administrators of NASA|Administrator of NASA]], [[James C. Fletcher]], appointed Ruth Bates Harris, an African-American, as NASA's Director of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO),{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=425}} but before she commenced work on 4 October 1971, Fletcher demoted her to deputy director, and reduced her responsibility to dealing with contractors only.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=428}} In 1973, 5.6 percent of NASA staff were minorities, and 18 percent were women at a time when the [[United States federal civil service]] averages were 20 and 34 percent respectively. Although NASA employed 4,432 women, only 310 were in science and engineering, of which just four were in the top grades, counting Harris. Although it could be argued that women and minorities were under-represented in the aerospace engineering industry as a whole, NASA was no better at recruiting women as lawyers than as scientists, and while minorities were well represented in the ranks of NASA's [[janitor]]s (69 percent), it employed no women to perform this work.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} The [[Kennedy Space Center]] had 43 grades of secretaries so women could be promoted without reaching management levels.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} |
The [[National Aeronautics and Space Agency]] (NASA) was no paragon of diversity in 1972. Most of its twelve major facilities were located in the [[southern United States]].{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=424}} Eight of them had created equal employment/affirmative action offices, but the staff of six of them was entirely white.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=428}} In 1971, the [[List of administrators and deputy administrators of NASA|Administrator of NASA]], [[James C. Fletcher]], appointed Ruth Bates Harris, an African-American, as NASA's Director of Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO),{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=425}} but before she commenced work on 4 October 1971, Fletcher demoted her to deputy director, and reduced her responsibility to dealing with contractors only.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=428}} In 1973, 5.6 percent of NASA staff were minorities, and 18 percent were women at a time when the [[United States federal civil service]] averages were 20 and 34 percent respectively. Although NASA employed 4,432 women, only 310 were in science and engineering, of which just four were in the top grades, counting Harris. Although it could be argued that women and minorities were under-represented in the aerospace engineering industry as a whole, NASA was no better at recruiting women as lawyers than as scientists, and while minorities were well represented in the ranks of NASA's [[janitor]]s (69 percent), it employed no women to perform this work.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} The [[Kennedy Space Center]] had 43 grades of secretaries so women could be promoted without reaching management levels.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} |
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Harris soon proved a feisty and forceful presence who was unafraid to ask uncomfortable questions. After reading a newspaper report that [[Wernher von Braun]] had used slave labor to build his rockets during World War II, she asked him if it was true.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=430}} She wanted her original job back,{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} and civil service rules required that affirmative action directors report directly to the administrators of government agencies.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=430}} To fill the position, NASA's deputy administrator, [[George Low]], appointed Dudley McConnell, NASA's most senior African-American engineer to the position, with Harris as one of his deputies.<ref name="Science" /> Harris, Samuel Lynn (a former [[Tuskegee Airmen|Tuskegee airman]]) and Joseph M. Hogan prepared a report on the state of equal opportunity in NASA on their own time, and submitted it directly to Fletcher.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} The report concluded:{{quote|NASA has demonstrated to the world that it has limitless imagination, vision, capability, courage and faith, limitless persistence and infinite space potential. It made the United States a winner in space and improved the quality of life for all people. ... However, in spite of sincere efforts on the part of some NASA management and employees, human rights in NASA have not even gotten off the ground. In fact, Equal Opportunity is a sham in NASA.{{sfn|Ruel|Mills|Thomas|2018|p=32}} }} |
Harris soon proved a feisty and forceful presence who was unafraid to ask uncomfortable questions. After reading a newspaper report that [[Wernher von Braun]] had used slave labor to build his rockets during World War II, she asked him if it was true.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=430}} She wanted her original job back,{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} and civil service rules required that affirmative action directors report directly to the administrators of government agencies.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=430}} To fill the position, NASA's deputy administrator, [[George Low]], appointed Dudley McConnell, NASA's most senior African-American engineer to the position, with Harris as one of his deputies.<ref name="Science" /> Harris, Samuel Lynn (a former [[Tuskegee Airmen|Tuskegee airman]]) and Joseph M. Hogan prepared a report on the state of equal opportunity in NASA on their own time, and submitted it directly to Fletcher.{{sfn|McQuaid|2007|p=431}} The report concluded:{{quote|NASA has demonstrated to the world that it has limitless imagination, vision, capability, courage and faith, limitless persistence and infinite space potential. It made the United States a winner in space and improved the quality of life for all people. ... However, in spite of sincere efforts on the part of some NASA management and employees, human rights in NASA have not even gotten off the ground. In fact, Equal Opportunity is a sham in NASA.{{sfn|Ruel|Mills|Thomas|2018|p=32}} }} |
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Nineteen of the 35 had already undergone this training in the military, so the remaining 16 (which included all six women) were sent to [[Homestead Air Force Base]] in Florida for training with the [[3613th Combat Crew Training Squadron]]. The training was highly realistic, and concluded with each candidate being towed aloft under a [[parasail]] before being released {{convert|400|ft}} above the water and dropped in while wearing their full flight gear. The candidate would then have to inflate their rubber raft, fire off a flare, and be plucked from the water by a waiting helicopter. This was followed by training at [[Vance Air Force Base]] in Oklahoma in the correct procedure in case they had to bail out of a T-38. This time 24 of the TFNGs had already completed this training, leaving just eleven, again including all six women.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=171–175}} In addition to the T-38, Kathy Sullivan and Pinky Nelson qualified as scientific operators on the [[Martin/General Dynamics RB-57F Canberra|Martin/General Dynamics WB-57F Canberra]].{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=182–183}} |
Nineteen of the 35 had already undergone this training in the military, so the remaining 16 (which included all six women) were sent to [[Homestead Air Force Base]] in Florida for training with the [[3613th Combat Crew Training Squadron]]. The training was highly realistic, and concluded with each candidate being towed aloft under a [[parasail]] before being released {{convert|400|ft}} above the water and dropped in while wearing their full flight gear. The candidate would then have to inflate their rubber raft, fire off a flare, and be plucked from the water by a waiting helicopter. This was followed by training at [[Vance Air Force Base]] in Oklahoma in the correct procedure in case they had to bail out of a T-38. This time 24 of the TFNGs had already completed this training, leaving just eleven, again including all six women.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=171–175}} In addition to the T-38, Kathy Sullivan and Pinky Nelson qualified as scientific operators on the [[Martin/General Dynamics RB-57F Canberra|Martin/General Dynamics WB-57F Canberra]].{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=182–183}} |
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Much of the first eight months of the astronaut candidates' training was in the classroom.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|p=177}} Because there |
Much of the first eight months of the astronaut candidates' training was in the classroom.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|p=177}} Because there were so many of them, the astronaut candidates did not fit easily into the existing classrooms, so during classroom instruction they were split into two groups, red and blue, led by Rick Hauck and John Fabian respectively. They were chosen because they were older and of higher military rank than the other candidates; as leaders they became the ones who would report to George Abbey.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|p=167}} Classroom training was given on a wide variety of subjects, including an introduction to the Space Shuttle program, space flight engineering, astronomy, [[orbital mechanics]], ascent and entry aerodynamics and space flight [[physiology]]. Those accustomed to military and academic environments were surprised that subjects were taught, but not tested.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|p=177}} Training in geology, a feature of the training of earlier classes, was continued, but the locations visited changed because the focus was now on observations of the Earth rather than the Moon.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=165–166}} |
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The astronaut candidates were sent on a geological field trip to Arizona. They |
The astronaut candidates were sent on a geological field trip to Arizona. They also visited Houston's [[Burke Baker Planetarium]], the key NASA centers, including the [[Ames Research Center]], [[Marshall Space Flight Center]], [[Goddard Space Flight Center]] and [[Lewis Research Center]], and [[Rockwell International]]'s facility in [[Palmdale, California]], where the [[Space Shuttle Orbiter]]s were being built.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|p=184}} Zero gravity training was carried out in the [[vomit comet]], a modified [[Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker]], and [[Extra-vehicular activity]] (EVA) training was conducted in the [[Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory]], an enormous water tank. Some accommodation had to be made for the women: Space suits were made in smaller size, the Shuttle's cargo bay doors were made easier to open, and the design of the Space Shuttle orbiters was modified to make it easier for women to negotiate and reach the switches.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=187–189}} |
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[[File:Water Survival Training—Ride, Resnik, Fisher, Sullivan, and Seddon.jpg|thumb|right|The first five American female astronauts to travel into space – [[Sally Ride]], [[Judy Resnik]], [[Anna Lee Fisher|Anna Fisher]], [[Kathryn Sullivan]] and [[Rhea Seddon]] undergo water survival training at [[Homestead Air Force Base]] ]] |
[[File:Water Survival Training—Ride, Resnik, Fisher, Sullivan, and Seddon.jpg|thumb|right|The first five American female astronauts to travel into space – [[Sally Ride]], [[Judy Resnik]], [[Anna Lee Fisher|Anna Fisher]], [[Kathryn Sullivan]] and [[Rhea Seddon]] undergo water survival training at [[Homestead Air Force Base]] ]] |
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NASA maintained a small fleet of [[Northrop T-38 Talon]] jet aircraft at [[Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base|Ellington Field]], not far from the JSC. These were used by the astronauts for visiting NASA and contractor installations around the country. They were also used as [[chase plane]]s for the Space Shuttle, and it became a tradition for the crew to fly to KSC in T-38s before a mission. The T-38 was a trainer commonly used by the USAF and Navy, so most of the pilot astronaut candidates had flown it before, but none of the mission specialist candidates had, even among those who were trained pilots. Unlike previous astronaut groups, they were not sent to a military flight school to learn how to pilot the aircraft, but were required to learn how to fly in the back seat as a crew member. Jim Buchli and Dale Gardner had qualified for this role in the T-38 as Naval Flight Officers, and they drew up a training syllabus for mission specialist candidates with no flight experience that covered subjects such as navigation and the correct protocol for talking on the radio. Due the [[energy crisis]] of the 1970s and the consequent soaring cost of jet fuel, flight time |
NASA maintained a small fleet of [[Northrop T-38 Talon]] jet aircraft at [[Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base|Ellington Field]], not far from the JSC. These were used by the astronauts for visiting NASA and contractor installations around the country. They were also used as [[chase plane]]s for the Space Shuttle, and it became a tradition for the crew to fly to KSC in T-38s before a mission. The T-38 was a trainer commonly used by the USAF and Navy, so most of the pilot astronaut candidates had flown it before, but none of the mission specialist candidates had, even among those who were trained pilots. Unlike previous astronaut groups, they were not sent to a military flight school to learn how to pilot the aircraft, but were required to learn how to fly in the back seat as a crew member. Jim Buchli and Dale Gardner had qualified for this role in the T-38 as Naval Flight Officers, and they drew up a training syllabus for mission specialist candidates with no flight experience that covered subjects such as navigation and the correct protocol for talking on the radio. Due the [[energy crisis]] of the 1970s and the consequent soaring cost of jet fuel, flight time was restricted to 15 hours a month.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=166–168}} |
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On August 31, 1979, NASA announced that the 35 astronaut candidates had completed their training and evaluation, and were now officially astronauts, qualified for selection on space flight crews. This brought the number of active astronauts to 62.<ref>{{cite press release |title=35 Astronaut Candidates Complete Training and Evaluation Period |id=79-53 |date=August 31, 1979 |first=Milton |last=Reim |publisher=NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref> Their training, which had been expected to last 18 to 24 months, had been completed in just 14. Training of subsequent classes was shortened to just 12 months.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=190–191}} The initiation of a selection of the next class of astronaut candidates had already been announced on April 1.<ref>{{cite press release |title=NASA to Recruit Space Shuttle Astronauts |id=79-50 |date=August 31, 1979 |first=Milton |last=Reim |publisher=NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref> Although NASA considered them astronauts, most did not feel like real astronauts until they were "veterans"—astronauts who had flown in space.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=196–198}} Had the Space Shuttle program been running on schedule, they would have been immediately assigned to flight, but it was now running more than two years behind. Veteran astronaut [[Alan Bean]], the TFNG's coordinator, |
On August 31, 1979, NASA announced that the 35 astronaut candidates had completed their training and evaluation, and were now officially astronauts, qualified for selection on space flight crews. This brought the number of active astronauts to 62.<ref>{{cite press release |title=35 Astronaut Candidates Complete Training and Evaluation Period |id=79-53 |date=August 31, 1979 |first=Milton |last=Reim |publisher=NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref> Their training, which had been expected to last 18 to 24 months, had been completed in just 14. Training of subsequent classes was shortened to just 12 months.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=190–191}} The initiation of a selection of the next class of astronaut candidates had already been announced on April 1.<ref>{{cite press release |title=NASA to Recruit Space Shuttle Astronauts |id=79-50 |date=August 31, 1979 |first=Milton |last=Reim |publisher=NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/johnson/pdf/83131main_1979.pdf |access-date=October 3, 2020}}</ref> Although NASA considered them astronauts, most did not feel like real astronauts until they were "veterans"—astronauts who had flown in space.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|pp=196–198}} Had the Space Shuttle program been running on schedule, they would have been immediately assigned to flight, but it was now running more than two years behind. Veteran astronaut [[Alan Bean]], the TFNG's coordinator, counselled patience, reminding them that the [[NASA Astronaut Group 7|Group 7]] astronauts had been waiting over ten years for their first flights.{{sfn|Shayler|Burgess|2020|p=190}} |
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==Operations== |
==Operations== |