Two upcoming evening lectures at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center will feature women who have broken barriers in aviation and spaceflight. A third lecture will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
The 8 p.m. lectures in the Airbus IMAX Theater are free but require registration. They also will be streamed live on the National Air and Space Museum’s YouTube channel.
Here’s what’s planned:
The Path to Equality for Women Military Aviators
Thursday, September 19
It took 20 years for women to gain equality as pilots in the U.S. military. Training of women as pilots and other aviators started in 1973, but it was not until 1993 that women could fly combat aircraft. The Path to Equality for Women Military Aviators will talk about the challenges women military aviators faced.
Beverly Weintraub, author of Wings of Gold: The Story of the First Women Naval Aviators, and Eileen Bjorkman, U.S. Air Force veteran and author of Fly Girls Revolt: The Story of the Women Who Kicked Open the Door to Fly in Combat will speak as part of the Aviation Adventures Lecture Series.
Seeing in X-Ray Vision
Wednesday, September 25
A panel of astronauts and scientists who have contributed to the success the Chandra X-ray Observatory will talk as NASA celebrates the 25th anniversary of its flagship X-ray observatory. Chandra has been sending back detailed images of everything from supernova explosions to black hole jets.
Cmdr. Eileen Collins, who became the first woman to command a space shuttle Columbia mission on STS-93, and Cady Coleman, a mission specialist, will speak, as well as two scientists from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, which manages Chandra’s science and flight operations: Patrick Slane, Chandra X-ray Center director, and Kimberly Arcand, visualization scientist.
Women Take Flight: Stories of Air and Sea from the U.S. Coast Guard
Thursday, October 10
Three Black women aviators in the U.S. Coast Guard will speak about their experiences during this lecture. Cmdr. Jeanine Menze, the first Black woman pilot in the Coast Guard, is a fixed-wing pilot who flew during Hurricane Katrina and other aviation missions. Cmdr. La’Shanda Hawkins is the first Black woman to serve as a helicopter pilot in the Coast Guard. Cmdr. Chanel Lee, a pilot and civil engineer, has the distinction of a being the first Black woman to fly an MH-60 Seahawk helicopter and be sent to flight school.
14390 Air and Space Museum Pkwy., Chantilly
Feature image of the first class of women Air Force Pilots courtesy National Air and Space Museum
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