Who Could Ever Compete With The Moon? The True Stories Of The Astronaut Wives Club

Rene Carpenter Became NASA’s Nightmare

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Photo by Bettmann/Getty Images

Though Rene gushed about her husband Scott, they too divorced in 1972. No longer the submissive wife, Rene went on to become a celebrity in her own right, establishing a successful career as a newspaper columnist and TV presenter. She was the ultimate feminist.

Rene went from being the cookie-cutter wife of an astronaut to being the voice of women who were often under the radar. In her writing and TV career she advocated birth control, even doing demonstrations on how to use diaphragms – hardly something that impressed NASA, even after the divorce. After her show “Everywoman” she went on to back the Committee for National Health Insurance.