[FPSPACE] Mercury 13 member Janet Christine Dietrich dies

[LARRY KLAES]

Bay Area pilot Janet Christine Dietrich dies

Cory Lopez, SF Chronicle Staff Writer

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

At the dawn of the space race in the early 1960s, Bay Area pilot Janet 
Christine Dietrich was one of 13 women who underwent secret astronaut 
testing, passing the same rigorous physical and psychological assessments as 
the men who became immortalized as America's first astronauts.

It was a venture financed by noted aviator Jacqueline Cochran, and though 
the women never did reach the stars, the group later known as the Mercury 13 
helped lay the groundwork for a future generation of female space travelers. 
"She would've dearly loved to have been in space," said Miss Dietrich's 
niece, Linda McKenzie. "That was the ultimate."

Miss Dietrich died June 5 of natural causes in a San Francisco convalescent 
hospital, her family said. She was 81.

Full article here:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/06/17/BA4211A0VO.DTL