Lesbians in Space
https://salvomag.com/post/lesbians-in-space
LGBTQ+
A post on LGBTQ+ from the blog by Michael Howard April 15, 2021
Is NASA Courting the Wrong Stuff?

Does it matter that Sally Ride, NASA’s first woman in Space was a lesbian? It wasn’t like the diminutive five-foot-five female astronaut was advocating or promoting same-sex lifestyles, or openly grooming young girls to become future female partners. No one outside a very small circle even knew about her sexual proclivities until after her death from pancreatic cancer.

Does it matter that NASA astronaut Lisa Novak was charged with the attempted kidnapping and murder of fellow astronaut William Oefelein’s girlfriend, or that “outed” astronaut Anne McClain was accused of identity theft and “wrongfully attempting to access the bank account” of her estranged wife, Summer Worden?

In the case of Novak, the charges were pled down to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery, and she was demoted and retired from the Navy under other than honorable circumstances. In the case of McClain, she was exonerated, and Worden was indicted for making false statements.

Astronauts, male or female, are people, and just like everyone else are subject to human foibles and frailties. But still, one would hope that NASA’s selection criteria are designed to minimize the expression of such foibles and frailties within their elite astronaut cadres. Of the tens of thousands of applicants competing for a spot in NASA’s astronaut corps, only a tiny percentage make it, and tax payers have a right to demand that these be “the best of the best.” They have the right to ask just what attributes are being cultivated.

The most recent Astronaut Class, the Class of 2017, drew 18,300 applicants. Of those, 120 were “invited” to NASA’s “Manned” Missions Space Center for four months of “Phase 1” interviews, which eliminated half of the hopefuls. The survivors underwent two months of additional Phase 2 interviews and participated in medical and physical assessments. Medical evaluations were performed by doctors at the Flight Medicine Clinic for the Astronaut Long-Duration Spaceflight Physical, and more hopefuls were eliminated. Phase 3 subjected Phase 2 survivors to “team building activities,” which reduced the field considerably. Only eleven astronauts made the cut: three “white” males, three “minority” males, three “white” females, and two “minority” females.-- excerpt, rest at link above --