Thorndike Press large print popular and narrative nonfiction.

Preface -- January 1958 : launch day -- 1940s -- Up, up, and away -- Headed west -- 1950s -- Rockets rising -- Miss guided missile -- Holding back -- Ninety days and ninety minutes -- Moonglow -- 1960s -- Analog overlords -- Planetary pull -- The last queen of outer space -- 1970s : today -- Men are from mars -- Look like a girl -- Epilogue

The riveting true story of the women who launched America into space. In the 1940s and 50s, when the newly minted Jet Propulsion Laboratory needed quick-thinking mathematicians to calculate velocities and plot trajectories, they recruited an elite group of young women- known as human computers- who, with only pencil, paper, and mathematical prowess, transformed rocket design, helped bring about the first American ballistic missiles. But they were never interested in developing weapons, their hearts lay in the dream of space exploration. So when the JPL became part of a new agency called NASA, the women worked on the first probes to the moon, Venus, Mars, and beyond. Later, as digital computers largely replaced human ones, JPL was unique in training and retaining its brilliant pool of women. They became the first computer programmers and engineers, and through their efforts, we launched the ships that showed us the contours of our solar system. For the first time, Rise of the Rocket Girls tells the stories of these women who broke the boundaries of both gender and science. Based on extensive research and interviews with all the living members of the team, Rise of the Rocket Girls offers a unique perspective on the role of women in science: both where we've been, and the far reaches of space to which we're heading. -- Publisher description