] More than a generation before Sally Ride became the first ] U.S. woman in space, some experienced female pilots ] dubbed the Mercury 13 almost beat her to the milestone. ] ] Trained in secret in a laboratory run by a NASA medical ] officer, the group's remarkable experiences are ] chronicled in a new book by Martha Ackmann, "Mercury 13: ] The Untold Story of Thirteen Women and the Dream of ] Spaceflight." ] ] In 1961, the same year the first U.S. man achieved ] spaceflight, the women underwent the same series of tests ] as the Mercury 7 astronauts, according to Ackmann. ] ] But the Mercury 13 program did not win enough political ] support to continue to completion, she said, and the ] Soviet Union sent the first woman into space in 1963. ] ] Ackmann, an author, journalist and Mount Holyoke College ] professor, recently spoke with CNN during the same week ] as the anniversary of Ride's historic flight on June 18, ] 1983. CNN.com - Women secretly trained as U.S. astronauts in 1960s - Jun. 23, 2003 |