The cast of “The Astronaut Wives Club”

The 1960s were an incredible time of discovery for the human race, highlighted by the ongoing Space Race between the Soviet Union and the United States. The first person, Russian Yuri Gagarin, went to space in 1961, and the first person, American Neil Armstrong, set foot on the moon in 1969. The Space Race featured the U.S.S.R.'s Voskhod and Vostok programs and the U.S.'s Mercury program, Gemini project and Apollo program.

The men who helmed these missions have forever been ingrained in Earth's history, but as one old saying would have it: Behind every great man there's an even greater woman.

ABC is launching a new drama series that explores these two concepts -- the evolving space program of the '60s and the women behind the men. Based on true events and the book by Lily Koppel, "The Astronaut Wives Club" rockets to the small screen Thursday, June 18, on ABC.

The series centers on seven women, telling their stories from the other side of NASA's space program. While their husbands are exploring outer space and forging the foundation for many of today's modern technologies, these lovely ladies were given an equally important task -- keep their homes together and functioning for the good of the space program.

"There was this whole story at home," Koppel, the book's author, told Space.com. "These wives were basically single mothers during the week who were mowing the lawn, keeping the checkbook balanced, making sure their husbands aren't overly stressed at home, per NASA's recommendations. ... [I]t really was sort of the heart of the endeavor, the emotional story of the Space Race."

ABC's 10-episode version of "The Astronaut Wives Club" will focus primarily on the wives of the astronauts from NASA's Project Mercury, but after undergoing some creative changes last year, it will also include the stories from the Gemini and Apollo missions.

Playing the seven core women are some ladies who are no strangers to television.

Fresh off last year's acclaimed miniseries "24: Live Another Day," Yvonne Strahovski -- who has also been in "Dexter" and "Chuck" -- plays Rene Carpenter, wife of astronaut Scott Carpenter. JoAnna Garcia Swisher ("Reba," "Once Upon a Time") stars as Betty Grissom, wife of the second American to ever fly in space, Gus. "House's" Odette Annable steps into the role of Gordon Cooper's wife, Trudy; Dominique McElligott, of "Hell on Wheels" fame, plays Louise Shepard, the wife of Alan Shepard, who holds the distinction of being the first American to travel into space.

Rounding out the seven lovely ladies are Erin Cummings ("Detroit 1-8-7") as Marge Slayton, wife of Deke; Azure Parsons ("Salem") as John Glenn's wife, Annie; and Zoe Boyle ("Downton Abbey") as Jo Schirra, wife of Wally.

Yvonne Strahovski stars in “The Astronaut Wives Club”

Of course, being thrust into the spotlight so quickly -- and becoming "America's first reality stars," according to Koppel -- wasn't always as easy as the women made it out to be. Their husbands were transformed into rock stars pretty much overnight, and the focus was always on the silver-suited astronauts. The astrowives were often forced into the background and forgotten about in the history books.

"I think that honestly they feel that they have been shut out of a lot of history," Koppel said in the Space.com interview. "Whenever there are these NASA anniversaries and everyone gathers, a lot of the times it's the astronauts and their second or third or fourth wife. These women are like: 'They didn't live through it — we did.'

"And they really went through so much in that decade that they really deserve to be recognized as playing this incredibly important role," she continued. "It was a huge sacrifice for them. ... [T]hey were almost in their own crazy NASA space program -- that they had this equally hard role of keeping the home fires burning bright and projecting this perfect American family image to the world, but I think they certainly enjoyed it. It was the most exciting time of their lives."

The astronauts themselves will be well represented in the television iteration of this story. Wilson Bethel ("Hart of Dixie") plays Scott Carpenter, Bret Harrison ("Reaper") plays Gordon Cooper, Sam Reid ("Hatfields & McCoys") stars as John Glenn, Joel Johnstone ("The Newsroom") stars as Gus Grissom, Aaron McCusker ("Shameless") takes on Wally Schirra, Desmond Harrington ("Dexter") takes on Alan Shepard and, lastly, Kenneth Mitchell ("Jericho") plays Deke Slayton.

The 1960s were the heyday of the Space Race, with the U.S. battling the U.S.S.R. to the top of the world and beyond. While it's easy to recall the American heroes who donned those silvery spacesuits, it's often just as easy to forget that there were some incredible, loyal women standing by their sides on Earth. See these astrowives' stories based on true events unfold when "The Astronaut Wives Club" premieres Thursday, June 18, on ABC.