The Astronaut Wives Club

In Lily Koppel's narrative nonfiction account, the wives of America's astronauts emerge as unsung participants in the space race, women who endured extraordinary public scrutiny, private fear, and personal sacrifice while their husbands rocketed into history. The book traces their collective story from the announcement of NASA's Mercury Seven, the agency's first group of astronauts, in 1959 through the final Apollo Moon mission in 1972 and beyond.

Koppel introduces the wives as seasoned military spouses accustomed to loneliness, financial strain, and the dread that their test pilot husbands might not come home. When NASA presented its first seven astronauts on April 9, 1959, reporters descended on the wives. Betty Grissom was sick and unprepared when Life magazine journalists tracked her to a grocery store. Louise Shepard, a Christian Scientist raised on the Du Pont estate of Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania, handled the press with cool reserve. Rene Carpenter welcomed the spotlight. Marge Slayton harbored a secret: She had been divorced before marrying Deke, a fact that could disqualify him at a space agency that prized stable marriages. Trudy Cooper, the only licensed pilot among the wives, maintained conspicuous silence because she had recently left her husband Gordo over his infidelity; Gordo convinced her to reunite so his candidacy would not be jeopardized, and Trudy agreed, drawn partly by the adventure and a lucrative Life magazine deal worth $500,000 split among the seven families.

The families relocated to Langley Air Force Base in Virginia, where the wives bonded through carpooling, babysitting, and a "round-robin" phone call tradition. Celebrity attorney Leo DeOrsey negotiated the Life deal for exclusive coverage, including life insurance policies no company would otherwise underwrite. Life assigned ghostwriters to produce profiles presented as authored by each wife, transforming the women into idealized American housewives. For a September 1959 cover shoot, NASA instructed the wives to wear pastel shirtwaist dresses, and when the issue appeared, the editors had changed their carefully chosen pink lipstick to red. Any hint of domestic turbulence was erased. Annie Glenn, John's wife, emerged as the model astronaut wife.

As training accelerated at Cape Canaveral, Florida, the wives confronted the "Cape Cookies," groupies who flocked to astronauts. Alan Shepard's philandering was an open secret, but Louise maintained her composure. On May 5, 1961, Alan became the first American in space on a fifteen-minute suborbital flight. Louise held vigil at home, establishing the ritual of the post-flight lawn press conference. At the White House, the Shepards met President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, whom the wives came to idolize.

Gus Grissom's July 1961 flight ended in near-disaster when his capsule hatch blew prematurely during ocean recovery, sinking the spacecraft and nearly drowning Gus. Betty was humiliated when there was no White House ceremony, interpreting the absence as blame. On February 20, 1962, John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth on Friendship 7, surviving a terrifying reentry. Annie, who had a severe stutter since childhood, dreaded the press but triumphed during the massive ticker-tape parade. Before the flight, Vice President Lyndon Johnson tried to bring TV crews into Annie's home, but she refused, and John backed her completely. Scott Carpenter orbited Earth next on Aurora 7 but overshot his landing by 250 miles. Deke Slayton was grounded due to a heart murmur, devastating Marge. After Scott's flight, Jacqueline Kennedy personally invited Rene and her daughters for afternoon tea at the White House.

In the summer of 1962, the families moved to Houston, now dubbed "Space City, U.S.A.," building dream homes near NASA's new Manned Spacecraft Center. A second group of astronauts, the "New Nine," was announced for the Gemini program, bringing wives including Jane Conrad, Marilyn Lovell, Susan Borman, and Pat White. The Mercury wives were territorial about sharing their Life money and perks. The growing community, nicknamed "Togethersville" by journalists, expanded further with a third group, "the Fourteen."

Death and danger marked the Gemini years. On Halloween 1964, astronaut Ted Freeman was killed in a T-38 jet crash; his wife learned the news from a reporter, prompting NASA to create a formal notification protocol. In June 1965, Ed White performed the first American spacewalk on Gemini 4; his wife, Pat, listened as Ed declared returning inside the capsule "the saddest moment of my life." In February 1966, astronauts Elliot See and Charlie Bassett died in another crash. Marge Slayton and Louise Shepard coordinated the formal Astronaut Wives Club, which met monthly but avoided taboo subjects: depression, alcoholism, and infidelity. Meanwhile, Rene Carpenter launched a syndicated newspaper column and appeared on television, becoming a public figure in her own right.

Gus Grissom had grown increasingly concerned about the Apollo 1 spacecraft, calling it a "lemon." The worst tragedy struck on January 27, 1967, when a flash fire during a prelaunch test killed Gus, Ed White, and rookie Roger Chaffee inside the sealed, pure-oxygen capsule. Betty did not break down, saying she had "already died 100,000 deaths." Pat White began a long decline, repeatedly asking Susan Borman, "Who am I?" Betty reinvented herself after Gus's death, eventually filing a $10 million lawsuit against contractor North American Rockwell for negligence and settling for $350,000. Pat, unable to recover, eventually attempted suicide; the wives helped conceal it. Harriet Eisele, wife of astronaut Donn Eisele, endured the death of her six-year-old son Matt, who had leukemia, and discovered Donn was having an affair. She filed for what the press called the "First Space Divorce."

Apollo 8, the first crewed mission to orbit the Moon, launched in December 1968. Susan Borman, wife of astronaut Frank Borman, had secretly developed an alcohol addiction and was convinced Frank would die; flight director Chris Kraft gave her a fifty-fifty chance of the crew returning. On Christmas Eve, Susan wrote Frank's eulogy at her kitchen table. The crew read from the Book of Genesis during a live broadcast, and when Jim Lovell's voice crackled through after the critical engine burn on the far side of the Moon, "Please be informed. There is a Santa Claus," the relief was overwhelming.

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. Joan Aldrin, Buzz's wife, collapsed on her tile floor in relief, then briefly blacked out in Buzz's study. Commander Neil Armstrong took his first step, and Buzz followed, describing the landscape as "magnificent desolation." After quarantine, the crew embarked on a forty-five-day world tour, but Buzz grew increasingly depressed, telling Joan their lives would never be normal again.

On Apollo 13 in April 1970, an oxygen tank explosion crippled the spacecraft carrying Jim Lovell. Marilyn Lovell reassured her hysterical daughter that Jim was "too mean to die." The crew returned safely, but Marilyn developed lasting anxiety. Apollo 17, the final Moon mission, launched in December 1972, and President Nixon canceled the remaining flights. Astronaut marriages dissolved in a wave of "Astro-divorces."

In 1991, the wives held their first major reunion in Deer Valley, Utah, finally sharing fears and secrets suppressed for decades. Pat White had died by suicide in the mid-1980s; the wives considered her the final victim of the Apollo 1 fire. Annie Glenn overcame her stutter in 1973 through intensive clinic treatment. Rene Carpenter went on to host Everywoman, a feminist talk show. Out of the Mercury Seven, New Nine, and Fourteen families, only seven couples stayed together. The wives continue meeting for reunions, wearing golden whistle charms that symbolize their promise: "If you need us, come."