This week, the Associated Press is heralding two space travel firsts as "a giant leap for womankind." Just over a week ago, Peggy Whitson became the first woman to take command of the International Space Station. Tuesday, space shuttle Discovery will rocket into space with a woman, Pamela Melroy, at the helm; it will be the first time two women have commanded a spacecraft at the same time.
This is not something that was planned or orchestrated in any way ... There are enough women in the program that coincidentally this can happen, and that is a wonderful thing. It says a lot about the first 50 years of spaceflight that this is where we're at.
-- Melroy on this coincidental milestone.
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