Jerrie Cobb
Jerrie Cobb | |
|---|---|
Jerrie Cobb with a Project Mercury spacecraft | |
| Born | March 5, 1931 Norman, Oklahoma, US |
| Died | March 18, 2019 (aged 88) Florida, US |
| Education | Oklahoma City Classen High School |
| Known for | Part of the Mercury 13 |
| Aviation career | |
| First flight | 1943 |
Geraldyn M. Cobb (March 5, 1931 – March 18, 2019), commonly known as Jerrie Cobb, was an American pilot and aviator. She was also part of the Mercury 13, a group of women who underwent physiological screening tests at the same time as the original Mercury Seven astronauts, and was the first to complete each of the tests.
Cobb set three aviation records in her 20s: the 1959 world record for non-stop long-distance flight, the 1959 world light-plane speed record, and a 1960 world altitude record for lightweight aircraft of 37,010 feet (11,280 m). In 1960, Life Magazine named her as one of nine women of the "100 most important young people in the United States".