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- From 1956 to 1996,
Marcia Neugebauer, Ph.D., served as the senior research scientist
at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She made the first extensive measurements
of solar wind and made an important step in understanding the mechanisms
that produce shocks that occur throughout the solar system and presumably
the galaxy and beyond. She also conducted research on comet Haley. From
1994 to 1996, she was president of the American Geophysical Union. http://www.physics.ucla.edu/~cwp/images/neugebauer.2.jpg
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- In April 1959,
six months after NASA was chartered, the first seven astronauts were
selected. Air Force nurse Dee O'Hara was hired in November and,
learning together, they and the flight surgeon started NASA's flight
medicine program. Astronauts were required to undergo a battery of medical
tests before each test or training exercise. Since the flight surgeon
had the power to cancel training due to illness, the nurse's job was
to continuously monitor the astronauts' health. In addition to conducting
physicals throughout training and before and after each launch, she
also cared for the astronauts' families. Ms. O'Hara continued working
with astronauts in the Gemini, Apollo, and Skylab programs. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/space/frontiers/ohara.html
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- In 1960, Nancy
Roman, Ph.D., became the first chief astronomer at NASA, and the
first female senior executive. She began her career at Yerkes Observatory
at the University of Chicago researching distances and motions of stars.
As she says, "Forty years ago, it was nearly impossible for a woman
to get tenure in an astronomy research department." A few months after
NASA was formed, she was asked to create a space astronomy program that
continues to influence programs such as the Cosmic Background Explorer
and the Hubble Space Telescope. In 1963, she was quoted as saying that
NASA's requirement for women scientists were the same as for men. She
said, "It's strictly a matter of merit and experience—without regard
to sex." She currently works part-time on computer-readable astronomical
catalogs that make information readily available to astronomers throughout
the world.
http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/cswa/history/roman.jpeg
http://www.quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/bios/nr.html
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- In 1960, 13 women
pilots with commercial ratings, who called themselves FLATS, participated
in a privately funded, independent physiological and psychological study
at Lovelace Clinic in Albuquerque. Although these pioneering women were
not part of NASA, they were pathfinders continuing to push the field
of aviation. They included Myrtle "K" Cagle, Geraldine "Jerrie" Cobb,
Jan Deitrich, Marion Dietrich, Wally Funk, Sarah Gorelick [Ratley],
Janey Hart, Jean Hixson, Rhea Hurrie, Irene Leverton, Jerri Sloan [Truhill],
Bernice "B" Trimble Steadman, and Gene Nora Stombough [Jessen].
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- In the 1960s, Doris
Chandler and Sara Corbitt were engineers working on the Apollo/Saturn
programs, and subsequently designed wings used on subsonic jets.
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- Margaret W.
"Hap" Brennecke, a NASA Marshall welding expert, researched and
selected the metals and welding techniques used for the Saturn rockets
in the 1960's, and later for Spacelab and the Space Shuttle's solid
rocket boosters.
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- In 1960, Eleanor
Francis "Glow" Helin, Ph.D., helped establish the Lunar Research
Laboratory to study craters on the Moon, which are caused by asteroid
impacts, and the chemistry of meteorites that have landed on Earth.
In the 1970s, this planetary scientist and astronomer initiated the
first systematic search to discover, track, and catalog thousands of
asteroids whose orbits were close to Earth. The International Astronomical
Union named asteroid (3267) in honor of her, and, in 1998, she was inducted
into the Women in Technology International Hall of Fame.
http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/cswa/history/helin.jpeg
http://www.witi.com/center/witimuseum/halloffame/previousinducte/
1998/ehelin.shtml
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- Chien-Shiung
Wu, a pioneering physicist, radically altered modern physical theory
and changed our accepted view of the structure of the universe. She
was the first woman to be elected president of the American Physical
Society, and she was the first living scientist to have an asteroid
named after her.
http://www.greatwomen.org/wu.gif
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- In 1961, Alberta
King, with an M.S. in industrial engineering, joined NASA and researched
a space tug to rendezvous with the Space Shuttle. In the 1970s, she
was part of the team involved in controlling Skylab during reentry into
the atmosphere.
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- In 1963, Bonnie
Dalton joined NASA as a microbiology researcher. During her career,
she has helped to establish NASA's Life Sciences program. She helped
establish the Life Sciences facility at NASA Kennedy and at NASA Dryden.
She helps design science requirements for the Space Shuttle, the Russian
space station Mir, and the International Space Station. She is currently
deputy director of Life Sciences at NASA Ames where research focuses
on how to counteract the effects of gravity on bone and neural systems
using centrifuges, a human bed-rest facility, a biocomputation center
that shows biomedical changes, and an animal care facility. http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/dalton.html
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/neuron/team/pics/dalton.jpg
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- In 1964, Jerrie
Mock became the first American woman to fly around the world.
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- In 1934, Jeannette
Piccard, Ph.D., earned her science doctorate from the University
of Minnesota. She flew stratospheric research balloon flights. During
the Apollo era, she continued research and consulted with NASA.
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- In 1961, Laurel
van der Wal was awarded the Society of Women Engineers' annual award
for contributions to the developing field of space biology. She originated
Project Mia in which mice hitchhiked rides in U.S. rockets, providing
data on physiological effects of space flight. She also worked on escape
and recovery systems and the design of manned spacecraft.
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- In 1965, Marjorie
R. Townsend became the first woman to manage a U.S. spacecraft launch.
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- In 1966, Donna
Shirley, Ph.D., began her career at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab as
an aerodynamic analyst. In 1991, she became chief engineer of a $1.6
billion project to explore asteroids, a comet, and Saturn. As director
of the Mars exploration program, she successfully started a low-cost
program that will continue to send missions to Mars through 2005. She
has recently written a book and is currently involved in educational
activities.
http://www.quest.arc.nasa.gov/women/bios/dshirl.html
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- In the 1960s, Miriam
S. Hopkins, an aerospace engineer, joined NASA Marshall and pioneered
reentry dynamics for the Space Shuttle's external tank.
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- In 1968, Nancy
Boggess, Ph.D., started work at NASA and over the years developed
an infrared astronomy program that included high-altitude aircraft with
telescopes, balloon flights, satellites, and, recently, the COBE spacecraft
that studied the cool afterglow of the Big Bang explosion. http://cannon.sfsu.edu/~gmarcy/cswa/history/boggess.html
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