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Mary Jackson
chandra.si.edu/womenwww.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Mary Jackson (b. 1921) grew up in Virginia and graduated college with a Bachelor’s degree in math and physics. After spending part of her early career as a teacher, she changed paths to become a “computer” (or mathematician) for the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which later morphed into the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Jackson worked on data from wind tunnel experiments as well as data from aircraft and aeronautics experiments.
illustration: Kristin DiVona
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
chandra.si.edu/womenwww.nasa.gov
cady coleman
U.S. Air Force Colonel, chemist and astronaut Cady Coleman (b. 1960) helped deploy NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory into space in 1999 and has since spent about 180 days aboard the International Space Station. Coleman cites that it wasn’t until she was in college when astronaut Sally Ride came to talk that she first became interested in being an astronaut.
illustration: Kristin DiVona
grace hopper
chandra.si.edu/womenwww.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Working as a Rear Admiral in the Navy and as a computer scientist, Grace Hopper (b. 1906) was a leader in the nascent computer programming and software development fields. She is known to have developed the computer programming language compiler. In 1934, Hopper was one of the first women to earn a Ph.D. from Yale in mathematics.
illustration: Kristin DiVona
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
chandra.si.edu/wom
enw
ww
.nasa.gov
During her career, A
nnie Easley (b. 1933) participated in the evolution from the “hum
an com
puter” to computer program
ming at w
hat today is NA
SA’s Glenn Research C
enter in O
hio. She developed code used in researching energy-conversion systems, analyzing
alternative power technology. Easley w
as a mentor and role m
odel to many through her
actions and successes.
AnnieEasley
illustration: Kristin DiVona
Katherine Johnson
chandra.si.edu/womenwww.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and Space Administration
Katherine Coleman Goble Johnson (b.1918) is an African-American space scientist and mathematician who calculated space flight trajectories for critical NASA projects such as the 1969 Apollo 11 trip to the Moon. Johnson was known for her mathematical accuracy and was asked to double check the computer-based calculations on major space flight missions.
illustration: Kristin DiVona
eileen collins
When Eileen C
ollins (b.1956) joined the Air Force Reserve O
ffice Training C
orp (ROTC
), w
omen w
ere not allowed to be pilots. Fortuitously, that changed in 1976 w
hile Collins
was w
orking on her undergraduate degree in math and econom
ics. After spending
over a decade at the Air Force, C
ollins was selected to the astronaut corps in 1990.
She became the first fem
ale pilot of NA
SA’s Space Shuttle in 1993 and the first fem
ale com
mander of a N
ASA
space mission in 1997.
chandra.si.edu/wom
enw
ww
.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
illustration: Kristin DiVona
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
chandra.si.edu/wom
enw
ww
.nasa.gov
Melba Roy M
outon (b. 1929) was a m
athematician and com
puter program
mer in N
ASA’s Trajectory and G
eodynamics D
ivision, acting as the A
ssistant Chief of Research Program
mes. M
outon worked at N
ASA’s
Goddard Space Flight C
enter, coding computer program
s to calculate the trajectories and locations of various aircra� .
MelbaRoy
illustration: Kristin DiVona
HypatiaH
ypatia (born in 350) was know
n as a great thinker in her age. She was
one of the earliest wom
en to be a noted astronomer, m
athematician and
philosopher in ancient Greece and Egypt, and w
as also the head of an im
portant school in Alexandria. U
nfortunately, in 415, Hypatia w
as killed in the streets by a m
ob during a time of religious unrest.
chandra.si.edu/wom
enw
ww
.nasa.gov
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
illustration: Kristin DiVona
National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
chandra.si.edu/wom
enw
ww
.nasa.gov
Augusta A
da Byron, Countess of Lovelace, usually
referred to as ‘Ada Lovelace’, w
as born in London on D
ecember 10, 1815, and w
as the noted daughter of the poet Lord Byron. A
da showed a prom
ising gift for m
athematics at an early age and w
as greatly encouraged by her m
other. As a colleague of C
harles Babbage, she becam
e known for her w
ork on and ideas around his concept of the m
echanical computer. Lovelace is now
considered the first com
puter programm
er.ada
lovelace
illustration: Kristin DiVona
Nat
iona
l Aer
onau
tics
and
Spac
e Ad
min
istra
tion
chan
dra.
si.e
du/w
omen
ww
w.n
asa.
gov
We
cele
brat
e w
omen
in S
TEM
, (S
cien
ce, T
echn
olog
y, E
ngin
eerin
g an
d M
ath)
bot
h ac
know
ledg
ed
and
unkn
own,
for t
heir
role
in
the
expl
orat
ion
of th
e w
orld
and
U
nive
rse
arou
nd u
s.
The
hist
ory
of w
omen
’s co
ntrib
utio
ns
to th
e fie
lds
of s
cien
ce, t
echn
olog
y, en
gine
erin
g, a
nd m
ath
(STE
M) i
s lo
ng
and
varie
d, b
ut it
has
als
o oft
en b
een
unde
rrep
rese
nted
. Thi
s se
ries
high
light
s on
ly a
ver
y fe
w o
f the
wom
en w
ho
have
mad
e im
port
ant d
isco
verie
s an
d ha
ve h
ad a
cru
cial
impa
ct o
n ST
EM
field
s. T
oday
, wom
en a
re in
eve
ry
STEM
dis
cipl
ine,
in e
very
type
of j
ob,
and
repr
esen
t the
wid
est r
ange
of
back
grou
nd a
nd e
xper
ienc
es.
It w
asn’
t unt
il I w
ent
to c
olle
ge a
nd S
ally
R
ide
cam
e to
talk
—
it ju
st o
pene
d up
th
at p
ossi
bilit
y of
if
she
cou
ld d
o it
th
en I
coul
d as
pire
to
do
it to
o.”
Cad
y C
olem
an
chem
ist,
ret
ired
Uni
ted
Stat
es A
ir F
orce
offi
cer,
an
d N
ASA
ast
rona
ut