Evening Readers
The Astronaut Wives Club
by Lily Koppel
Tuesday, May 19
The evening’s discussion consisted of a mix of questions and remarks about Lily Koppel’s revelations about the lives of American astronauts and their wives during the intense space race with the Soviet Union. Readers all agreed that the book was a great read, but some had reservations about it. Some wanted more information and details about NASA itself and asked why NASA overlooked the moral lapses of the astronauts. They wondered why more men of the caliber of John Glenn were not selected instead of the ones who strayed from their marriages.
The families were portrayed as an American ideal and afforded rock star status provided with valuable perks far above the usual military benefits. It was decided that military life and the culture of post-World War II 1950s along with the 1960s before the counterculture kept the wives in the bubble presented by NASA. The test pilots were recruited and represented as “the best of the best” because they were extreme risk takers and lived with the possibility of death every time they flew a mission. Their moral dalliances were just part of a lifestyle that the wives put up with and denied until they could no longer stand it.
The wives were expected to stay home and bake cookies while it was okay for the husbands to have multiple affairs. Depression, alcoholism and divorce were the end result for most wives whose husbands were not killed on the job. The times changed and so did the wives. The close-knit ties and support of the wives for each other appeared to be genuine and helped them through tough times. Some readers felt it was too cloying to be watched by the press and put on television all the time. Others said it was the first reality show and decided that celebrity was the price they had to pay for their extravagant perks.
Some said that too much money was spent by NASA. Others said it was not a frivolous venture but just an extension of the Cold War to keep the Russians at bay. Americans beat the Russians and landed on the moon. There was plenty of money made by a few and the population benefited from the advances technology allowed. We all loved Tang.
When the question was asked, “Who would want to be an astronaut’s wife?” only three raised their hands. Times have changed...We've come a long way, baby!
