Stories of the female pilots, physicists, and doctors who broke the stratospheric ceiling.

Filled with beautiful full-color illustrations, a groundbreaking compendium honoring the amazing true stories of fifty inspirational women who helped fuel some of the greatest achievements in space exploration from the nineteenth century to today--including Hidden Figure's Mary Jackson and Katherine Johnson as well as former NASA Chief Astronaut Peggy Whitson, the record-holding American biochemistry researcher who has spent the most cumulative time...

"This narrative nonfiction work recounts the early years of air and space exploration and the daring exploits of America's first astronauts--both the men and women who were called upon to train."-- "In the 1960s, locked in a heated race to launch the first human into space, the United States selected seven superstar test pilots and former military air fighters to NASA's astronaut class -- the Mercury 7. The men endured grueling training and constant...

"This brand-new series highlights some of the major contributions women have made in the world of science. From studying stars and discovering comets to flying into space as pioneering astronauts, women have been central to learning about space. Female astronomers gave us our first understanding of how large the universe really is and how much matter it contains. They were key to designing humans' first rocket-powered flights into space. And as soon...

"The never-before-told story of the barrier-breaking NASA class of 1978, which for the first time consisted of a diverse crew of women, people of color, LGBTQ+ people, and more, and their triumphs and tragedies working on the newly launched space shuttle program, with the exclusive cooperation of five astronauts"--

Profiles eleven women who have contributed significantly to the field of astronautics, from Sally Ride, the first female astronaut, to Julie Payette, the Chief Astronaut for the Canadian Space Agency.