To take to the skies, you have to love flying. Passionately. As aeronauts,

aviators, or astronauts, women have left their mark in the sky since the

inception of aviation over a century ago. Intrepid lady balloonists left

kings and emperors aghast when they first rose up in their gondolas, set flight

while on horseback, or swung from their trapezes without a parachute.

Despite the prejudice they came up against in this predominantly male

field, women showed the same daredevil attitude and courage when it came to

flying airships, airplanes, rockets, and jets. In knickerbockers, a leather

jumpsuit, or a high-tech spacesuit, the "fairer sex" has never ceased to carry off

the most amazing feats. Amelia Earhart, Hélène Boucher, Hanna Reitsch,

Jackie Cochran, Sally Ride: these women refused to take no for an answer and,

in doing so, they won their place in history.