National Aeronautics and Mary Jacksondocs.msl.mt.gov/librariesweb/documents/NASA/WomenInSTEM.pdfAugusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, usually referred to as ‘Ada Lovelace’,

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



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.


grace hopper



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.


National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

chandra.si.edu/wom

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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

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as a mentor and role m

odel to many through her

actions and successes.

AnnieEasley


Katherine Johnson



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.


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.

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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

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chandra.si.edu/wom

enw

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.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


HypatiaH

ypatia (born in 350) was know

n as a great thinker in her age. She was

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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

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chandra.si.edu/wom

enw

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.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


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cele

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ngin

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ath)

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know

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for t

heir

role

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orld

and

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nive

rse

arou

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s.

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hist

ory

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omen

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ntrib

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to th

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echn

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(STE

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s lo

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has

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o oft

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unde

rrep

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. Thi

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f the

wom

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have

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isco

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n ST

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field

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oday

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very

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xper

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ossi

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Uni

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ASA

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Documents

National Aeronautics and Mary Jacksondocs.msl.mt.gov/librariesweb/documents/NASA/WomenInSTEM.pdfAugusta Ada Byron, Countess of Lovelace, usually referred to as ‘Ada Lovelace’,