The Six

Archival Summary & Scope

NASA once excluded women from spaceflight, deeming only military test pilots—then exclusively men—to have "the right stuff." In 1978, a historic shift led to the selection of America's first six women astronauts: Sally Ride, Judy Resnik, Anna Fisher, Kathy Sullivan, Shannon Lucid, and Rhea Seddon. Loren Grush's "vivid and engrossing" (*The Guardian*, *Booklist*) *The Six* chronicles these brilliant, courageous women's journey. Enduring claustrophobic, often sexist, media attention and rigorous training, they prepared for years to build and launch crucial space payloads. Called "suspenseful, meticulously observed, enlightening" (Margot Lee Shetterly) and a story about "the longing of six women to reach heights that were forbidden to them" (*The New York Times*), Grush reveals their immense contributions and sacrifices, including Judy Resnik's life aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger. This "spirited group biography" (*The Wall Street Journal*) celebrates pioneers who collectively and individually redefined the limits of human ambition.