Before John Glenn orbited the earth or Neil Armstrong walked on the moon, a group of dedicated female mathematicians known as "human computers" used pencils, slide rules and adding machines to calculate the numbers that would launch rockets, and astronauts, into space. Among these problem-solvers were a group of exceptionally talented African American women, some of the brightest minds of their generation. Originally relegated to teaching math in...

Stephanie Nolen heard a story about Jerrie Cobb, and she couldn't let it go: Cobb, a world-record-setting pilot and a woman, was recruited in 1959 to take the astronaut tests. At the time, the United States was losing the space race. The Soviets had larger, more powerful rockets, and engineers at NASA thought women -- smaller and lighter -- might be the answer to their problems. Women were also thought to be more tolerant of isolation and pain. Randy...

"A riveting history of the momentous Friendship 7 space flight that put America back into the space race. If the United States couldn't catch up to the Soviets in space, how could it compete with them on Earth? That was the question facing John F. Kennedy at the height of the Cold War-a moment when the Soviet Union built the wall in Berlin, tested nuclear bombs more destructive than any in history, and beat the US to every major milestone in space....

"When Mary Jackson was growing up, she thought being an engineer was impossible for her. Why? After all, she was fantastic at math and science. She worked really hard to learn all she could in school. Why did this smart little girl think she couldn't be an engineer? Elementary aged readers explore America's history of segregation through the life of Mary Jackson, who overcame challenges to become the first African American women to work at NASA! In...

Always run, never fight. Preserve the knowledge. Survive at all cost. Take them to the stars. Over 100 identical generations, Mia's family has shaped earth history to push humanity to the stars, making brutal, wrenching choices and sacrificing countless lives. After nudging the human race through the dawn of rocket technology, Mia finds herself about to help launch the first people into space. She can't take them to the stars, not quite yet,...

"Blast off into a galaxy full of fun with this fact-tastic nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a series about the history of fun stuff!"--

"Discover the thrilling side of the history of the space race in this fact-tastic, nonfiction Level 3 Ready-to-Read, part of a series about the secrets of American History! Did you know that you can't bring a sandwich on a spaceship? Or that a group of people who had lost their hearing played an important role in the race to send astronauts to the moon? Find out about those true stories and more in this book about the space race of the 1950s and 1960s."--...

The whole world followed the countdown to sending the first men to the moon. This is the story of the people who made it happen, both in the rockets and behind the scenes.