inches tall and 100 pounds, Dietrich completed the regimen of tests, as did her sister and 11 other women. While the women waited for the next phase of their program in July 1961, the testing was halted without warning or explanation. It would be two more decades before the United States launched its first woman into space, Sally Ride, an astrophysicist turned astronaut. Later career In 1960, Dietrich became the nation's first woman to earn an Airline Transport Pilot License, the highest Federal Aviation Administration license, followed by a career of commercial flying that lasted well into the 1970s. Dietrich would work for World Airways, an Oakland corporation that became a key military contractor during the Vietnam War. In that capacity she piloted regular flights between the war zone and World's base at Oakland International Airport. However, the death of her twin sister in 1974 brought Dietrich's piloting career to an end. In 2006, the International Women's Air & Space Museum opened an exhibit honoring the Mercury 13 – Mercury Women: Forgotten Link to the Future. And in May 2007, the women of Mercury 13 received honorary doctor of science degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Over a 34-year aviation career, Dietrich accumulated more than 12,000 hours in the pilot seat. Neither she nor her sister were ever married. Dietrich died on June 5, 2008, in San Francisco of natural causes at the age of 81. References 1926 births 2008 deaths Aviators from California University of California, Berkeley alumni Mercury 13 American women commercial aviators People from San Francisco