3-D: 72 × 82.5 × 1cm (2 ft. 4 3/8 in. × 2 ft. 8 1/2 in. × 3/8 in.)
Size: Adult M [Medium] 38-40
Type:
PERSONAL EQUIPMENT
Country of Origin:
Mexico
United States of America
Summary:
This T-shirt belonged to space shuttle astronaut Pamela Melroy. By her account, a shuttle technician at Kennedy Space Center gave it to her as a friendly joke before her first flight as pilot of the STS-92 mission on Discovery in 2000. Women were first admitted into the astronaut corps in 1978, and Melroy was one of only three women ever selected to be shuttle pilots. Contemporary cartoonists and pundits speculated about changes that might result from adding females to spaceflight crews. The design on this shirt reflects this not-always-humorous concern about women's presence in space. Melroy took the shirt on her flight and staged a photo with it.
She gave the shirt, and various other personal possessions and papers, to the Museum in 2018.
