Hart, Jane (1920–)

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Hart, Jane (1920–)

American aviator and feminist. Name variations: Janey Hart. Born Jane Briggs, 1920, in Detroit, Michigan; dau. of Walter O. Briggs (auto industrialist and owner of Detroit Tigers); m. Phil Hart (US senator from Michigan, died 1976); children: 8.

The 1st licensed female helicopter pilot in Michigan, was one of 13 women slated for the "Women in Space" program (1961); passed all the tests the men passed while in training, but NASA abruptly cancelled the program (the world was not yet ready for women astronauts); lobbied Congress for women astronauts; was a founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

See also Stephanie Nolen, Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race (2002); Martha Ackmann, The Mercury 13 (2003).

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Hart, Jane (1920–)

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