Mercury 13 (2018)
Genre: Documentary / History
Duration: 79 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: David Sington and Heather Walsh
Starst: Myrtle Cagle, Jerrie Cobb and Wally Funk
IMDb score:
7,0 (1.383)
Releasedate: 8 April 2018
Mercury 13 plot
"Meet the women who dared to reach for the stars."
'Mercury 13' is the story of the women who were tested for space travel in 1961 before their dreams were shattered to be the first to make the journey beyond Earth. NASA's space program, dubbed "Project Mercury," began in 1958. The chosen men—all military test pilots—became known as The Mercury 7. But in addition to the media spotlight, behind tightly closed doors, female pilots were also screened. Thirteen of them passed and in some cases outperformed the men. They were called the Mercury 13 and had the necessary qualities but were unfortunately of the wrong gender.
Reviews & comments
Onderhond
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- 87698 messages
- 13092 votes
Female pilots.
They are just as good as the males, but NASA ensured that they were not allowed to compete for the title of first human or the first moon. Naturally, a huge missed opportunity, at least according to the women speaking in this documentary.
The story is fairly banal. Yet another variation of sexism from the 40s-60s, but with slightly different characters. The execution is the same as always; by now, the subject matter isn't all that relevant anymore, although I'm sure not everyone would agree with that.
The unfortunate thing is that the documentary seems to lack some focus. The women tell their stories, touch upon a few cliché remarks, and that is pretty much it. While it isn't even that whiny or disgruntled, it is just a bit on the boring side.
2.0*
Translated from Dutch · View original
mrklm
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- 12404 messages
- 10481 votes
Ten months after Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly in space, John Glenn became the first American in space. He was selected from a group of seven men known as the Mercury 7. This documentary reveals that the selection process for this expedition was also open to women and that 13 made it through. The last surviving members or descendants of that select group explain why the Mercury 13 ultimately had to make way for the Mercury 7. The commentary in news reports and questions from male journalists during interviews with female pilots speak volumes. The denouement, with a key role for spaceflight pioneer Eileen Collins, is moving.
Translated from Dutch · View original
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