Women Taking Advantage of Diverse Opportunities at NASA

March 28, 2023

During STS-41G on Oct. 11, 1984, astronaut Kathryn Sullivan performs the first spacewalk by and American woman in the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Challenger. Earlier, Sullivan and astronaut David Leestma participated in an in-space simulation of refueling a spacecraft in orbit. — During STS-41G on Oct. 11, 1984, astronaut Kathryn Sullivan performs the first spacewalk by an American woman. In the payload bay of the Space Shuttle Challenger, Sullivan and astronaut David Leestma participated in an in-orbit simulation of refueling a spacecraft. Photo credit: IMAX/Lockheed

Women at America’s Spaceport – Part 2

By Bob Granath

When retired Kennedy Space Center engineer and NASA astronaut Nicole Stott spoke to spaceport employees in 2015, she encouraged women at the center to take full advantage of expanding opportunities for people of diverse backgrounds. In fact, women now are filling some of the most crucial roles in the agency’s Artemis Program. That effort is designed to establish long-term lunar science and exploration capabilities on the Moon and inspire the next generation of explorers – the Artemis Generation.

*Former NASA astronaut and Kennedy Space Center engineer Nicole Stott speaks to spaceport employees on Aug. 26, 2015. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett*

In 1988, prior to becoming an astronaut, Stott was one of the ever-growing number of women engineers working for NASA and its contractors at the Florida spaceport. As an operations engineer in the Orbiter Processing Facility, she held a variety of positions including Space Shuttle flow director for the orbiter Endeavour, orbiter project engineer for Columbia and NASA convoy commander for Space Shuttle landings.

“Having worked here, I had a huge advantage, having had my hands on the actual hardware that was going to fly in space,” Stott said about the start of her astronaut candidate training.

Stott credits her mentors and fellow employees at Kennedy for assisting with her professional development in America’s space program.

“I feel like this is the place that provided me with the opportunity to (start my career),” said Stott, who was born in Albany, New York, but grew up in Clearwater, Florida. Working at Kennedy provided “really wonderful opportunities opened up by being a part of something, by being excited by it and wanting to pursue it.”

Similar efforts of encouragement now are showing results as NASA prepares to send astronauts back to the Moon.

Janet Petro

On June 30, 2021, NASA Administrator Bill Nelson named Janet Petro as the first woman to serve as center director. She now oversees the Kennedy’s world-class multi-user spaceport, supporting both commercial customers and NASA’s science and human exploration missions.

She began her professional career as an officer in the United States Army after graduating in 1981 from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. Hers was only the second class to include women. While in the U.S. Army’s Aviation Branch, Petro piloted helicopters and led troop assignments based in Germany.

Petro served as the center’s deputy director beginning in 2007. She helped lead Kennedy’s transformation to a multi-user spaceport, bringing a variety of new commercial and government partners to Kennedy. She led cross-agency initiatives with the Federal Aviation Administration and U.S. Air Force to cut “red tape,” streamlining government processes and supporting commercial space operations, increasing government efficiency and limit redundancy.

“Having grown up on Florida’s Space Coast and being the second generation in my family to work at Kennedy Space Center,” Petro said, “it’s truly exciting to help grow the multi-user spaceport as we prepare for Artemis and continue launching commercial crew missions to the International Space Station.”

Charlie Blackwell-Thompson

NASA Launch Director Charlie Blackwell-Thompson gave the final “Go” to launch the agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft for Artemis-1, on Nov. 16, 2022. She is the first woman to serve in that role. Artemis-1 was the first integrated test of the vehicle that is leading the agency into a new era of space exploration. The SLS is NASA’s rocket that will send astronauts aboard Orion to the Moon.

Blackwell-Thompson graduated from Clemson University in 1988 with a degree in computer engineering. She came to Kennedy after graduation in 1988 as a payload flight software engineer for The Boeing Company.

During the Space Shuttle Program, Blackwell-Thompson held numerous launch countdown leadership positions including serving as one of three certified NASA test directors for launch of Space shuttles. Additionally, she served as the chief NASA test director from STS-130 until program completion.

*On Nov. 16, 2022, the Space Launch System rocket lifts off from the Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39B. Photo credit: SpaceAgeChronicle.com/Bob Granath*

During the countdown for Artemis-1, she led about 91 engineers and managers that together are known as the launch team in the Firing Room of Kennedy’s Launch Control Center. They monitor thousands of systems during launch countdowns and are prepared to respond if anything happens that might compromise mission success.

During the countdown for Apollo 11, the first Moon landing mission in 1969, there was only one woman engineer in the Launch Control Center. The launch team for last year’s Artemis-1 was composed of about 30 percent women. The number of women holding positions within Artemis has grown exponentially across the agency and NASA management remains dedicated to maintaining a diverse and inclusive workforce.

Roberta Wyrick

Another launch team veteran is Roberta Wyrick of ERC — Engineering Research and Consulting Inc. — subcontractor for NASA’s Test and Operations Support Contract (TOSC). Jacobs is prime contractor for TOSC, which supports the agency’s Exploration Ground Systems Program.

Wyrick earned a bachelors degree in mathematics from the University of Central Florida before serving as orbiter test conductor for many Space Shuttle launches while working for Lockheed Space Operations Company and United Space Alliance. For Artemis-1, she was the test conductor for the Space Launch System rocket.

“Being back in the Firing Room has a great feel to it,” she said when preparations began for the Artemis-1.

While there were many familiar faces, she is glad to work with newcomers.

“We believe many of the newer members of the launch team will bring a fresh outlook,” she said.

Clara Wright

From an early age, Clara Wright was fascinated with solving problems. Along with an interest in math and science, that appeal led her to pursue a career in engineering. Born in Colombia, Wright and her family moved to the United States in 1988 when she was eight years old.

“I was always very good at math and science, particularly math because I was not hindered by the language barrier,” she said. “One of my teachers in middle school recommended that I look into a career in engineering.”

After high school, Wright attended the University of Florida, learning more about materials engineering and designing materials for biocompatibility. She went on to earn a master’s degree in materials engineering at Pennsylvania State University.

Wright is a materials engineer in the Failure Analysis Laboratory at Kennedy. She also is an expert in metallurgy, microscopy and failure analysis. She has supported several research investigations at the center, including testing and microscopy of advanced composites systems and support to other center research projects. One of those areas of study is called “SMASH,” for Shape Memory Alloy Self-Healing. It is a technology that creates metals that, when damaged, can repair themselves.

Wright now wants to inspire young people to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“I encourage students to think about their hobbies and see how a career in engineering would fit into that,” she said. “Think about how engineers impact your everyday life — from smartphones to computers to cars to buildings.”

Hibah Rahmani

Hibah Rahmani was born in Pakistan, but she and her family moved to Kuwait when she just a month old. She likes to encourage young people, especially girls, to “stay focused and dream big.” She has followed that philosophy since growing up in Kuwait and looking up at the evening sky.

“My fondest memory growing up is taking walks with my family at night, either in the desert or on the sidewalk by the Arabian (Persian) Gulf, looking up at the sky to admire the Moon and stars, and thinking about astronauts such as Neil Armstrong who have stepped on the Moon,” she said. “It was around this time I developed a passion for science, space and astronomy.”

After graduating from the University of Central Florida in 2000, she went on to earn a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from Georgia Tech. In 2008, she accepted a position with NASA at Kennedy in the Engineering and Technology Directorate, becoming an avionics and flight controls engineer supporting Kennedy’s Launch Services Program, assisting with the liftoff of rockets from Kennedy and Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Annie Meier

Annie Meier is from Bellmore, New York, a suburb of New York City on the south shore of Long Island. In high school, one of her favorite subjects was chemistry. After graduation, she entered Manhattan College in the Bronx, New York, majoring in chemical engineering. In 2010, she graduated with a master’s degree in in the subject.

As a chemical engineer in the Materials Science Division of the Engineering and Technology Directorate at Kennedy, Meier became involved in research that may be of value both on Earth and for future explorers living on another planet. She served on a team studying a technology that could turn ordinary debris and other garbage accumulated by a crew of astronauts into valuable resources such as methane gas, oxygen and even water, using processes that currently are used on Earth.

While busy with her career at Kennedy, Meier still finds time to volunteer with a local troop of Girl Scouts.

“I work primarily with high school girls,” she said. “I encourage them to consider STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) careers. But, the main thing I tell them is to find a career doing something that they feel passionate about.”