Gene Nora Jessen in Mercury 13 astronaut training. Gene Nora was accepted into the program in the early 1960s and was one of thirteen women to pass the tests. These were the same tests given to men in NASA's Mercury program--tests that were not offered to women at the time. These women went through straining physical and psychological examinations. In one, they had to stare at a point on the wall while ice water was poured into their ear, seeing how well they maintained and recovered their equilibrium. They also swallowed a rubber tube to test their stomach acid. Gene Nora in this picture is doing the bicycle test, which monitored respiration.