Every U.S. Female Astronaut That's Been To Space

Sandra Bullock in a screen shot from Gravity which is released tomorrow.

Gravity (2013), starring George Clooney and Sandra Bullock, and directed by Alfonso Cuarón, opens in theaters tomorrow. I'm expecting an intense and dramatic ride, since all the proper elements seem in place.

Now, this site is called Action A Go Go. We primarily focus on the lighter side of things, such as good guys taking out terrorists, good guys defending Earth from aliens, good guys in car chases, good guys blowing stuff up and so forth.

There's much testosterone behind these pages, so we also tend to have pictorials the revel in the female form.

There was discussion on doing a pictorial of Sandra Bullock, but we did one not too long ago, and it can be found here.

So what then in prep for the release of Gravity?

I'm the science fiction columnist for AAGG and the emphasis is usually on the fiction aspect of things. So, for once, will focus on the science aspect.

All indicators are that Sandra Bullock will be playing a character of strength, guts and intelligence. You know....the "right stuff." Therefore, decided to list real life examples of those very same qualities.

Please find listed below every single U.S. female astronaut that's been to space. If you click on their name, a link will take you to their Wikipedia page so that you can learn more about their amazing lives.

Sally Ride
First American woman in space.

 

Judith Resnik 

Died in the Challenger disaster.

 

 Kathryn D. Sullivan

First American woman to walk in space (Oct. 11, 1984).

 

Anna Lee Fisher 

 

Margaret Rhea Seddon 

 

Shannon Lucid

First American woman to fly on a space station (Mir, 1996).

 

Bonnie J. Dunbar 

 

Mary L. Cleave 

 

Ellen S. Baker 

 

Kathryn C. Thornton 

Marsha Ivins

 

Linda M. Godwin 

 

Tamara E. Jernigan

 

Millie Hughes-Fulford 

 

Jan Davis 

 

Mae Jemison

First African-American woman in space. (And she was an extra on Star Trek!)

 

Susan J. Helms 

 

Ellen Ochoa 

First Hispanic woman in space.

 

Janice E. Voss 

 

Nancy Currie 

 

Eileen Collins 

First female shuttle pilot and shuttle commander.

Wendy B. Lawrence

 

Mary E. Weber 

 

Catherine Coleman 

 

Susan Still Kilrain 

 

Kalpana Chawla 

First Indian-American woman in space. Died in the Columbia disaster.

 

Kathryn P. Hire 

 

Janet L. Kavandi 

 

Pamela Melroy 

 

Peggy Whitson

First female ISS commander. 

 

Sandra Magnus 

 

Laurel B. Clark

Died in the Columbia disaster.

 

Stephanie Wilson 

 

Lisa Nowak 

 

Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper 

 

Anousheh Ansari 

 

Sunita Williams 

 

Joan Higginbotham 

Tracy Caldwell Dyson

 

Barbara Morgan 

 

Karen L. Nyberg 

 

K. Megan McArthur 

 

Nicole P. Stott 

 

Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger 

 

Shannon Walker 

And since you were awesome by scrolling down and viewing every single one of these amazing women, here's one final pic for a laugh. It contains some truth, and I believe all the ladies above would approve.

Stephen Sumner is the science fiction columnist for Action A Go Go. He's proficient in Klingon swearing and has attempted the Vulcan process of Kolinar (with only mild success.) His favorite sci-fi series include Firefly, Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek. He can be followed on Twitter at https://twitter.com/VierLights or on the Tumblr machine at http://vierlights.tumblr.com/.