It is the end of the 1950s. There's a cold war going on, and at the same time the world is about to be as hot as possible from war. Meanwhile, you set the meatball for dinner and wait for your spouse to return. A few minutes after five, the door opens. The husband standing in them has a grave face. Dear, this is not the end of the world, but your well-organized life! You just got married to an astronaut.
The day NASA announces that it is your husband, along with several other daredevils, who has become part of the space team it's best to ... hide . Seriously. This is the last day of your ordinary life. Pack the kids in the back of your Dodge and head towards the setting sun. Preferably in the opposite direction of your astronaut, avoiding a wide arc where the press might target you.
To give you and your children peace of mind, contact your husband only by phone . If you choose otherwise, say goodbye to privacy. After all, Life reporters have an exclusive contract to pack your shoes into your life. You will see your husband in a few years when all this astro noise will fade away. You wanted peace? You should have married a shoe seller or a professor!
Louise and Alan Shepard wave to the crowd after meeting JFK. On the day the first seven astronauts were announced, Louise's normal life ended.
Doomsday
The wives of the first seven American space cowboys, participants of the Mercury project, did not come up with the idea of sewing up in a remote area. Instead, they tried to ignore the fact that journalists were lounging on their lawns. Betty Grissom, without expecting anything, on the day of the announcement of the "space seven" first saw the doctor, and then went to the store. That's where reporters caught her. . They circled her between the aisles and did not let her finish her shopping in peace. Later, they followed her home and unceremoniously packed inside, asking dozens or even hundreds of questions. It was the same with Louise Shepard.
She was not at home that day. Together with her lovely little daughters she went to the beach. There the hyenas got her. Louise agreed to some photos, arranged the little girls and posed for herself. After eight o'clock now head to the right, chin up she wanted to scream and run in an undefined direction . Instead, she scooped up the children, put them in a car, and headed for her typical American suburban home, where she hoped to find refuge from the intrusions.
Meanwhile, in its quiet street ... the press had already camped with a dozen or so broadcast vans. None of the seven wives on the Mercury program escaped the press raid. Only some of them managed to achieve moderate success, i.e. save their manicured beds from being trampled by journalists.
Lady perfect
Your husband became an astronaut. You need to change too, and change it immediately! The motherland requires you to become the perfect lady. With perfectly polite children, a perfect hairstyle, a house like a postcard, and an exemplary marriage. From now on, your life is a reality show for American housewives with a subscription to "Life". Yes, that's right. A magazine reporter may uncontrollably wander around your home, harass your children and ask you at least indiscreet questions.
Are you stuttering? Are you a simple farm girl? No problem! The reporter assigned to you will write it your way. You will become a perfect and sophisticated lady, a model for the masses. After all, you get paid for it, and a lot of it.
The wives of the Mercury astronauts were treated almost like rock stars in the United States. Their only task was to support their husbands and create an absolutely perfect image. Being the perfect lady on the outside carried another goal - the astronaut who had a perfect family life and a loving wife by his side had a better chance of being the first to go into space . The game was worth the candle.
Considering that astronauts were initially recruited from among test pilots, their wives were also seasoned. Life at the military base was very hard and the women learned to endure far too much.
Astronaut's wife Patricia White with her little daughter and Christopher Kraft from NASA at the air traffic control center.
Therefore, Gordo Cooper unceremoniously hammered on the door of his wife, Trudy, who, fed up with his betrayals and antics, left him taking the children. He just knew she would grit her teeth and play the loving wife until she dropped that bastard had a chance to make his cosmic dreams come true . Trudy deceived everyone, including NASA, and Gordo went into orbit.
Of course, being the perfect wife to the perfect American astronaut had its advantages. Money, luxury cars, rooms in the best hotels for a symbolic dollar. Also travels, the most beautiful creations, elegant homes, discounts everywhere and various privileges. However, this did not make up for the lack of a husband and father for the children.
Astro groupies
Okay, your husband is super famous, athletic, handsome and in addition he is an astronaut who often spends long weeks away from his family. Well honey, watch out. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of beautiful and willing people around NASA's spaceport at Cape Canaveral. . In addition to the lovely nurses and secretaries working in the area, there are also plenty of local girls dreaming of a date with a national hero.
Even when you visit him and are together, your hotel receptionist follows your husband with buttery eyes? NASA does not mind, as long as the information about such a cape cookie stays on the cape and does not affect the astronaut's family situation.
Impeccable appearance, press conferences, constant anxiety for my husband and the constant presence of journalists. It was everyday life for Betty Grissom.
Many astronauts have learned about it painfully. The husband stayed at the cape more often for the weekend, while others returned. When she called his quarters, she only found a roommate. But the very status of an astronaut's wife protected her from divorce! True, but only for a while. It did not help Harriet Eisele. First, she lost a son who died of leukemia. And then her husband, Donn, got a certain Susie screwed up.
Of course, he was stiff at first, claiming that Harriet was paranoid and complaining to her friends. He only confessed when his wife threatened to see a psychiatrist (if she is crazy, it must be treated!).
It was just a solid argument. In his opinion, a mentally ill wife crossed out his dreams of a flight into space and meant farewell to a well-paid job.
He confessed, stayed, flew into space, came back, went to the White House to meet the president, and then divorced Harriet . Being married to an astronaut has ceased to protect against the breakdown of marriage. And Harriet and Donna's divorce was just a pebble that started an avalanche.
And when they finally fire it…
Your man has been at the cape for a week. The kids are so anxious. Your neighbors tiptoe around you, a NASA spec puts you a barker in your living room and bedroom with direct transmission of air traffic control calls and capsules. Even the dog is nervous and growls at the crowd of journalists outside the house. You stumble over a Life reporter wandering around your kitchen with a big camera. A huge dose of coffee and cigarettes fired one from the other. Counting down. Ten ... nine ... three ... two ... one ... and he flew.
Now there is only waiting. You bite your fingers with uncertainty. Will your husband be blown up on takeoff? Will he be able to go around the Earth and come back? Or maybe he will stay in space forever and ever amen, and this beautiful rocket will be his coffin floating in a void? They have landed. They came back. Just a short press conference, at which, drowning in smiles, you can say how proud you are, and then you can fall down and fall asleep nervously exhausted.
In addition to various other disadvantages, there is always the risk that the astronaut's husband will bring some nasty stuff from space. You have to take into account the quarantine. The photo shows the crew that first reached the moon, just in quarantine.
The wives of American astronauts experienced these torments several times, for themselves and for their friends. They quickly found a way:take-off parties. Soon the minimum for such a party was 15 kilograms of ice, in which the sea of champagne was chilled. As soon as the rocket carrying the astronauts took off and left the stratosphere, traffic jams and bubbles poured out in their homes. Betty Grissom, wife from Mercury, said:
One thing always bothered me - other wives opened champagne as soon as their husbands were in orbit. I thought to myself:What are you two happy about? They haven't come back yet! (Quoted after:Lily Koppel, "The Astronauts' Wives").
Perhaps they enchanted reality in their own way? Now that my Jon is out, he will definitely be back!
When they shoot your husband into space and he happily returns, it remains to greet him. This can be done as Rene Carpenter greeted her astronaut.
Then came the press conference. The wife may have been on her last legs, overwhelmed with nerves and emotions, but it was her duty to appear in front of the cameras.
After the Apollo 11 flight, which saw Neil Armstrong on the moon for the first time, three such conferences were held almost simultaneously. Each of the ladies had control over her emotions and all she revealed was a clear relief. This is best seen in the words of Mrs. Aldrin, the wife of the astronaut who left the lander right after Armstrong:
"Mrs. Aldrin," one of them asked, "what were you doing when they landed?
" I was holding the wall, "Joan replied emotionally exhausted. - I was praying. (Lily Koppel, "The Astronaut's Wives")
All this was said in a calm voice. No hand shaking. The guide could be summarized in one sentence. Stay in shape in any situation, dear, you are an astronaut's wife!
Source:
- Lily Koppel, The Astronaut's Wives, Krakow, Znak Literanova, 2014