Mercury 13, also known as First Lady Astronaut Trainees (FLATs), were thirteen women selected for a privately funded program to select and train women to travel into space. 

Despite the disappointing conclusion to the FLATs program, these brave women boldly paved the way for those who would go on to become official NASA astronauts (including previously-covered Rosie, Mae Jemison).

The women of Mercury 13 had absolutely no guarantee that they would ever get to go into space, but still chose to undergo rigorous, grueling training that pushed them to their physical and mental limits, because they believed their actions today would create a more equal tomorrow.

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