In 1975, no American woman had ever flown in space, but Carolyn Griner (front), Dr. Mary-Helen Johnston and Dr. Ann Whitaker (L to R) dreamed of working in space. To learn about living in space and performing experiments there, they practiced in Marshall’s Neutral Buoyancy Simulator (NBS), an underwater facility used for training astronauts. Although none of the woman ever made it to space, they certainly helped advance space exploration. Griner, who helped design the Saturn V and space experiments, served as the deputy center director at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. Johnston designed and flew experiments inside the Shuttle’s Spacelab and served as an alternate payload specialist directing mission activities from the ground control center at Marshall. Whitaker served as the head of Marshall’s Materials and Processes Laboratory.
Image credit: NASA