《竞逐太空》内容简介

　　2021年7月20日，杰出的沃利·芬克以82岁高龄登上贝索斯蓝色起源公司的火箭，成为进入太空的最年长者。这位老太太就是本书的主人公。

　　1961年，沃利-芬克是"水星13号"中的一员，这是第一批被安排进入"女性太空"计划的美国女性。与其他参与者一样，她接受了严格的身体和心理测试，测试者正是为美国宇航局的男性宇航员制定测试的医生。沃利名列第三，她的分数超过了许多男性候选人，包括约翰·格伦这样的开拓者。但在她即将进入训练的最后阶段前一周，该计划被突然取消。从那时起，沃利飞遍了世界，成为美国第一批女性航空检查员、航空安全调查员和民用飞行教员之一。她仍然定期作为飞行员飞上天空，已经积累了19,000个飞行小时，并教授了3,000多名学生。六十年过去了，她终于要实现这个梦想了。

　　本书讲述了她美国和欧洲的旅行——参观休斯顿的美国宇航局任务控制中心、巴黎的欧洲航天局总部和新墨西哥州的美国太空港——这是一个真正的航空开拓者的独特故事。

　　作者简介

　　苏·尼尔森是一位屡获殊荣的科学记者、制片人和主持人。她曾是英国广播公司（BBC）的科学记者和第四电台（Radio4）主持人，曾为欧洲航天局制作关于太空任务的短片，并主持过博芬传媒太空频道（SpaceBoffins）的播客，其节目嘉宾包括众多宇航员。多年的职业生涯，使得她可以从南美洲的火箭发射聊到如何从伦敦出发驾驶月球车。她在2016年拍摄的纪录片《太空英雌》（WomenwiththeRightStuff），赢得了纽约电影节国际广播节目奖。

"Race for Space" content introduction

On July 20, 2021, the remarkable Wally Fink became the oldest person to go into space at the age of 82 when he boarded a Bezos Blue Origin rocket. The old lady is the protagonist of the book.

In 1961, Wally Fink was one of the Mercury 13, the first American women to be assigned to the Women in Space program. Like the other participants, she underwent rigorous physical and psychological tests by the same doctors who developed the tests for male NASA astronauts. Wally came in third, outscoring many male candidates, including trailblazers like John Glenn. But a week before she was due to enter the final phase of her training, the plan was abruptly cancelled. Since then, Wally has flown all over the world, becoming one of the first female aviation inspectors, aviation safety investigators, and civil flight instructors in the United States. She still takes to the skies regularly as a pilot and has amassed 19,000 flight hours and taught more than 3,000 students. Sixty years later, she was finally about to make that dream come true.

Recounting her travels across the United States and Europe - visiting NASA Mission Control in Houston, European Space Agency headquarters in Paris, and Spaceport America in New Mexico - this is the unique story of a true aviation pioneer.

About the author

Sue Nelson is an award-winning science journalist, producer and presenter. A former BBC science correspondent and Radio4 presenter, she has produced short films about space missions for the European Space Agency and hosted podcasts for the SpaceBoffins channel, which has featured many astronauts. Her long career has taken her from rocket launches in South America to driving a lunar rover from London. Her 2016 documentary "WomenwiththeRightStuff" won the International Radio Program award at the New York Film Festival.