On voices

My guest appearance talking about this film on the podcast Voices From L5.

The women!

The movie mostly follows three incredible women in particular.

NACA/NASA

This got left out of the movie, but the history of NACA (National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics), then NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), is an important part of the story.

Space Race

Existential threats. Intercontinental ballistic missiles and nuclear submarines obviating much of the interest in basing nuclear weapons in space. Dangerous beeps and boops.

Humans in Space

Yuri Gagarin was the first man in space. Alan Shepard. National and global heroes.

Space stuff is dangerous

Flight testing is really unsafe. Redstone rockets.

Space Competition

National competition in the day, feels to us more healthy and global-cooperative these days. For now. Until it gets cheaper and there are resources to fight over. :(

Computers, human and otherwise

Human computers. Adding machines. Early programmable computers. (Justified) trust issues with these new machines. IBM 7090. Fortran.

John Glenn

Joe’s favorite superhero. A totally amazing list of accomplishments even before the Mercury program. And then the only person to ride in both the Mercury and Shuttle programs.

Hats off

Appreciation for the people who pulled all of this stuff off, with special consideration for the women featured in the film.