Randolph Lovelace was director of the clinic where the Mercury astronauts had undergone their physical examinations. He and Jacqueline Cochran, the first American woman to break the sound barrier, wanted to prove that women were equally qualified to be astronauts. In early 1961 they arranged for 20 highly qualified female pilots to take the same physical tests undergone by the Mercury astronauts. Thirteen passed the tests, but NASA maintained its position that astronauts had to be qualified test pilots (all of whom were white males). One of the thirteen was the wife of a US Senator, and some congressional hearings were arranged. Despite the publicity NASA was still unwilling to place them in the official NASA training program.

Oddly enough, the selection of these women may have resulted in the first woman going into space after all. In May 1962 a Soviet delegation, including cosmonaut Gherman Titov and cosmonaut commander Nikolai Kamanin, visited Washington. Kamanin had been pushing for the flight of a Soviet woman into space since October 1961, and five Soviet female cosmonauts had just reported for training a month earlier. However the flight of a woman in space had little support from Chief Designer Korolev or Kamanin's military commanders. On May 3 Kamanin and Titov were invited to a barbecue at the home of astronaut John Glenn. Glenn, already politically-connected, was an enthusiastic supporter of the 'Lovelace 13'. Kamanin understood from Glenn that the first American woman would make a three-orbit Mercury flight by the end of 1962. Armed with the threat that 'the Americans will beat us', Kamanin was able to obtain a decision to go ahead with the first flight of a Soviet woman within weeks of his return. The Russians were obsessed with being first in space -- and even though NASA's female cosmonauts never materialised, Valentina Tereshkova of the Soviet Union became the first woman in space on June 16, 1963.

	Allison	Rhea Hurrle Woltman (nee Allison). American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1928. School teacher and pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Cagle Myrtle	Myrtle K Thompson Cagle. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1922. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Cobb	Geraldyne M "Jerrie" Cobb. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 5 March 1931. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Dietrich	Jan Dietrich. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1926. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Dietrich Marion	Marion Dietrich. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1926. Died December 1974. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Funk	Mary Wallace "Wally" Funk II. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 31 January 1939. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Gorelick	Sarah Lee Ratley (nee Gorelick). American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1931. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Hart Jane	Jane Briggs Hart. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1920. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Hixson	Jean Hixson. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1922. Died 1984. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Leverton	Irene Leverton. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1924. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Steadman	Bernice Trimble Steadman. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1923. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Stumough	Gene Nora Stumough. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 10 January 1937. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.
	Truhill	Geraldine "Jerri" Truhill Sloan. American Pilot Astronaut. Born 1927. Pilot. One of the Mercury 13 - never entered training.