Sabrina Thompson

I was born on April 9, 1985, in a small town on Long Island, New York, called Roosevelt. I spent my entire childhood in this small family-oriented community and attended the Roosevelt Public Schools from pre-kindergarten to high school. Unlike many, I did not grow up with the desire to become an engineer. In fact, I did not know what an engineer was until the 12th grade, when I started to seek possible majors for college. As a child, I dreamt of becoming a basketball superstar. I admired basketball players such as Teresa Weatherspoon, Cynthia Cooper, and Teresa Edwards. In the seventh grade, I tried out for the high school girls’ varsity team and made the cut. By the 9th grade, I was captain of the team. I also played National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Women’s basketball in college as a walk-on player. Prior to my senior year of high school, I did not think much about college. It was just a minor thought in the back of my mind. I knew I was going to attend college, but I did not know which school or major to pursue. So, I polled my teachers and mentors for ideas. Since I was gifted with exceptional artistic ability, my art teacher thought it would be fitting to pursue further education at an institution with a stellar art program. Others suggested that I pursue a degree in one of the science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines because I excelled in all my math and science courses. I remember one teacher suggested that I use my math, science, and creativity skills to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. It was at this point that I decided to do some research to find out if this would be a fitting career field. I asked one of my science teachers what he thought about the idea. He looked me in the eye and told me that I should stick to art because the science and math classes would be too hard for me in college. At that moment, I knew exactly what degree I was going to pursue in college: a bachelor’s in mechanical engineering. Instead of becoming discouraged by his words, I considered it a challenge and used it as fuel to feed the burning desire in me that wanted to prove him wrong. I went on to not only earn a bachelor’s, but a master’s degree as well.

I am proud to be the first in my family to obtain both a bachelor’s and master’s degree (I also aim to be the first to attain a PhD). Growing up in the poorest town on Long Island and receiving a second-class education did not hinder me from achieving success in endeavors I pursued. It bothers me when I witness people accepting mediocrity in life. During my childhood, I was fortunate to have more people in my life who spoke positive words in my ears than those who spoke negative. These people did not allow me to accept mediocrity from myself. They pushed me to limits I thought I could never cross and I am forever thankful. I believe everyone has a dream, a passion, a desire for something great in life. But it takes courage, faith, and diligence to achieve it.

Ramona Travis

NASA and I were born in the same year, and our common adventures since then have led us down paths to both seek the excitement of looking outward to space and the awe of looking down at the wonder of our home in the universe—mother Earth. I grew up in those early days of NASA, watching TV shows like Star Trek, movies like 2001: A Space Odyssey, and the Kon-Tiki boat expeditions about early human exploration. I memorized the constellations, laying on the hood of our car on summer nights, looking up at the configurations of stars and pondering the early lore about them that I had learned in class. Carl Sagan was one of my favorite authors, along with assorted Sci-Fi storytellers and the ancient writers of Greek and Roman mythology who wrote about how the heavens came to be.

I’ve always had a sense of reverence and awe for our Earth—a special watery globe, teeming with life and patches of green and brown, that is perfectly matched to us. Or is it that we are matched to her? Humans were born here and need to understand her and care for her as we grow in our intelligence and abilities and, eventually, as we leave for other future homes beyond her embrace. I loved to read about early civilizations and the works of authors sharing insights about the environmental challenges facing our modern societies and earthly home. I’ve always been fascinated with our place as humans in the grand scheme of the world and the larger universe.

I’m a second-generation American with French-Canadian ancestors who were farmers, loggers, and trappers, and a Finnish grandmother who escaped during the Bolshevik Revolution to come to the US in her teens and never saw her Finnish family members again. Though I feel fully American with a respect and compassion for my heritage, the feel of immigrant status is not that far removed. Both of my parents repeated first grade because they weren’t fluent in English. Perhaps as a result of that experience, my parents held great respect and value for education and encouraged us to pursue our dreams and to go to college. They helped to instill a philosophy espoused by President John F. Kennedy when he announced that we would go to the moon… “…that we should do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard…” I still remind myself of that when I know I need to go beyond my comfort zone to keep growing as a person.

In my elementary years, I went through stages of wanting to be a teacher and then an archeologist, a meteorologist, an environmental scientist, and an engineer. I started college wanting to be either an aerospace engineer or a civil engineer, and I excelled. However, after taking an elective geology course, my passion for science peaked again. I changed paths and moved toward environmental science and actually pursued all three of my degrees in plant and soil science.

I was hired by NASA to be a remote sensing research scientist using satellite images and ground data to map changes to the Earth’s surface and to better understand the impact of those changes on the Earth’s environment. Over the course of my career, I have been able to engage in all of my previously desired career paths in some form. I have taught science and geography as a part-time college professor and have managed programs involving university professors and students conducting research for NASA. My work as a soil scientist has many similarities to civil engineering, and I have even been involved in archeological studies using NASA ground penetrating radar equipment. My remote sensing work has involved meteorology. I have always worked closely with engineers in designing new remote sensing equipment. As the present chief technologist for the nation’s largest rocket engine testing complex at Stennis Space Center, I work daily with aerospace engineers and “rocket scientists” to help push the human frontier further into space. My advice to others: Don’t worry too much about picking a precise career path, but rather seek a career field that permits you to take advantage of opportunities to embrace your various passions over time.

My experiences with NASA have given me great moments from which to recall,: like the day I was first hired and made a pledge to the US government and felt the pride and immense responsibility of being a public servant; and the day I watched what seemed like the omnipotent presence of God in an aurora borealis as I sat next to an Arctic lake campfire after a day of field work; or the time I fearfully dodged alligators and snakes in the morning but fearlessly out-raced a lightning storm in our outboard boat while doing field work in the Louisiana marsh; or the fulfillment and tears that welled up inside me the time a past summer intern sent me a letter thanking me for the tremendous impact I had had on his college experience and career development; or the almost fantasy-like experience I had once as I swam in the midst of waters laden with phosphorescent diatoms in Puerto Rico—waters that pulsed with light with my every splash and stroke; or the time I saw the majesty and imagined the history of a herd of wild horses on a North Carolina barrier island adjacent to a site we were studying to help prevent island degradation and disappearance; or the time I shared a satellite image of vast Canadian peat bogs with a tribal leader and learned far more from him and his unique and intimate understanding about the terrain’s environmental status than my mere technology could ever unveil.

We all build on those who came before us. Those missions outward into space are not mine to make physically, but a piece of me will be with those who do. Let me end by sharing much as I started—that in my latter years with NASA, I look forward to continuing to do my part in helping to make strides toward advancing human presence in the universe while keeping my feet grounded here on Mother Earth. Hopefully, your dreams will build on those like mine, furnish you a career path that will not only nourish your mind but also your soul, and will carry you through the next steps in this human adventure.

Dovie Lacy

Whenever I’m asked what inspired me to work at NASA, I smile; I never aspired to work for NASA. However, in 1981, during my senior year in college I did complete an SFS-171, but did not think anymore about it until I received a call from NASA in December 1983.

While growing up in Cleveland, Ohio, I always wanted to be a teacher, although I had no concept of going to college to become one. As far as I knew, teachers were just teachers. How they became teachers, I did not know. In high school I was an honor student, but it was not until March 1977 (during my junior year) that the topic of my going to college came up. On that fateful day, I walked into my guidance counselor’s office and he said, “Dovie, you are good in math and science; do you want to be an engineer?” I responded, “I don’t think so; don’t engineers drive trains?” He explained that engineers use the principles of math and science to design things like planes and machines. That got my attention. While growing up, not only did I ask a lot of “why” questions, but I was also a tinkerer, always taking things apart (radios, watches, roller skates) and doing experiments. Back to that fateful day in 1977: That afternoon, we attended a Minority Engineering Forum at Cleveland State University and ended up sitting next to the Minority Engineering Program Manager from Southern University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. This gentleman asked my guidance counselor whether he know anyone who wanted to be an engineer and would be interested in spending six weeks at Southern University at an Engineering Summer Institute. My guidance counselor said yes, she would, and as they say, the rest is history!

I excelled at the Engineering Institute, and halfway through the program I knew that I wanted to pursue a degree in engineering. After graduating from high school I went to Southern University with a full 4-year scholarship to major in mechanical engineering. I spent my summers working as an intern for the U.S. Navy at the Norfolk Naval Base, in Norfolk, Virginia; Union Carbide in the Cleveland, Ohio, and General Electric also in Cleveland, Ohio. Following graduation, returned home to Cleveland.

My first job was with the local utility company, where I worked as a mechanical inspector at a nuclear power plant construction site. I did not like working at the construction site, so, after having my second child, I did not return to work there. Instead, in March 1984, when my daughter was six weeks old, I started work at the NASA Glenn (formerly NASA Lewis) Research Center in the Space Power Systems Division. I was the lead for the Advanced Solar Dynamic Heat Receiver Project. My first day at NASA was emotionally challenging; I was both excited and anxious about starting this new job and, to be honest, I was a little sad at having to leave my daughter. I remember going the wrong way on a one-way road during the busiest time of the day – not fun – but things quickly got better.

After working in engineering for six years, I transferred to the Education Office to work as a minority scholarship manager. One thing I have learned about myself is that after a few years, I get antsy and begin to look for other opportunities to grow and make a difference. So, after three years in education I transferred to the aeronautics group where I worked on the subsonic noise reduction program. Herein lay another great lesson: An engineering degree can open a lot of doors. After working in aeronautics for two years, I got the opportunity to live my dream; I became a teacher! For five years, I taught elementary science at a local private school. This was an amazing experience, better than I hoped or dreamed it could be. During my last year at the school, I served in a dual capacity: I taught science and I served as the school’s administrator!

As fate would have it, in June 2000 I returned to the Education Office at NASA. I became the Project Manager for NASA’s Science, Engineering, Mathematics, and Aerospace Academy (SEMAA) project. Again, this was a great experience and I held this position for 7 years. During this time, I realized that I really liked project management, so I decided to learn all that I could about the topic. I took several NASA-based project management courses as well as courses provided by project management professional organizations. I was also able to fulfill the teacher in me by mentoring colleagues and others in various aspects of project management. One of the happiest days in my professional life was June 28, 2008, when I received my Project Management Professional Certification. Because of my engineering, education, and project management skills and experience, in January 2010, I received the opportunity to work at NASA Headquarters on one of the Administrator’s education priorities – the Summer of Innovation Project.

I consider myself past the halfway mark in my NASA career, and it has been a wonderful one. It hasn’t been perfect, but it has been fun, challenging, and very rewarding. I have never been bored in my career and have had tremendous opportunities to grow personally and professionally.

Gwendolyn Young

My father served in the Marine Corps, so we moved a lot during my childhood. Making friends and just fitting in were huge challenges because of my family’s transient lifestyle. I found solace in my schoolwork and excelled in math and science but never thought about working for NASA.

In the 1970’s, girls were encouraged to get married or pursue a career as a nurse or a teacher. My parents did not graduate from high school, so they were unable to provide career advice, and I wanted to go to college. I earned a bachelor’s degree in elementary education but decided teaching was not the career for me.

I then decided to apply to a graduate school program in organizational behavior, but was rejected. This was a major disappointment as I did well in my behavioral classes and was even friends with the professor who had encouraged me to apply for graduate school. I was then encouraged to apply to the Masters of Business Administration program, but was rejected again, leaving me with a near zero self image. I was totally lost and unsure of what to do next.

I spoke to another graduate school official who recommended the Masters of Public Administration program, and figuring I had nothing to lose, I applied. Fortunately, I was accepted and later realized the MPA program was right for me.

In the last year of graduate school, I was selected for the Presidential Management Intern Program, a two-year internship with the federal government. I received interview requests from various agencies but was surprised when NASA called, since I was neither an engineer nor a scientist. They explained that NASA required all types of skills. I was honored and excited at this possibility.

I chose NASA and was assigned to the Office of the Chief Financial Officer at NASA Headquarters. I began in June, which is the peak of the budget process for the agency. My initial assignments were making copies, collating presentations and sitting through seemingly endless budget meetings.

My major responsibility was to coordinate the updating of the Chief Financial Officer’s budget book. The task was challenging since some of the analysts did not like to be reminded of the due dates! One analyst did not give me his budget book pages, and I was afraid to tell the boss that the book was not completed on time. My poor judgment resulted in him carefully explaining to me the importance of meeting deadlines. He explained that the due date was part of a larger integration process, and that even if the product is incomplete it should always be submitted on time with as much information as possible. I have always remembered this cardinal rule, and have taught this to the analysts I have trained.

After I completed my internship, I became a resource analyst in the International Space Station Freedom program office where I was responsible for specific Center budgets. I thoroughly enjoyed my job as I learned so much from working with the engineers. I gained knowledge of the engineering development cycle, participated in the formulation of an integrated master schedule and learned about the program office portion budget process.

When the space station office moved, I made a major career change by transferring to the Stennis Space Center to become their Resources Management Officer. Though I was only there for 18 months, I thoroughly enjoyed working with the employees and learning about the operations at a NASA center.

In 1993, I moved to the Dryden Flight Research Center to become its Chief Financial Officer. Since the office had just been created, I wrote position descriptions, hired my management team, developed processes and worked to form a cohesive team. These were challenging but rewarding times, and I was fortunate to work with very talented employees.

Since 2001, I have served as Dryden’s Associate Director for Management, recently renamed Director for Mission Support, responsible for mission support offices such as acquisition, finance, facilities, protective services and strategic communications, ensuring that these offices provide efficient and effective support for the programs. The most satisfying part of my job is solving problems and providing needed support to accomplish the center’s mission. My proudest achievement was establishing the mission support offices as a cohesive leadership team rather than a group of individual offices.

After working 28 years at NASA, I have learned some important life lessons, such as not giving up after experiencing failure and maintaining resilience. I found the courage to speak up, and asked questions or made statements that everyone else was thinking yet reluctant to share. I have strived to always do my best since my work is a reflection of not only myself but also of my organization. Most importantly, I have learned that as a team we can handle any challenge if we work together, which has given me the confidence that we as an agency will figure out what the next step in human spaceflight will be.

I have been lucky to work at NASA and have seen some pretty cool airplanes too, such as an SR-71 flyby while standing by the runway. I have also witnessed the record Mach 7 flight of the X-43 that made the Guinness Book of Records, and watched four space shuttle launches, two landings and the takeoff of the 747 shuttle carrier aircraft three times with space shuttles mounted atop. In May 2010, I saw the successful launch abort test of the Orion crew capsule. Recently, I observed the first open door flight of the SOFIA 747 aircraft and in my time at Dryden I have been fortunate to see numerous airplane flyovers — opportunities I could never have foreseen when I started with NASA.

Tarrie Hood

I joined NASA because I wanted to be a part of a world-class organization in which cutting-edge technology was the standard and is created and used daily. Working at NASA provides me the freedom to learn new things, keep current with state of the industry technology, and work with great people. NASA is definitely more than astronauts.

My road to NASA was not an easy one. I was fortunate enough during my lifetime to have two very special women – my mother Gladis and my sister Veronica – who greatly influenced me and inspired me to strive to achieve great things. My mother, who raised me as a single parent, passed away due to complications from Lupus when I was just 14 years old. Our years together were cut short by her illness, so the years we had together were priceless.

My mother taught me how to be independent and mindful of other people’s feelings, and to love the word of God. She encouraged and challenged me to always do my best and to believe in my God-given abilities. My loving and supportive sister was only 18 years old when she assumed the role of mother to me after our mother’s passing. From my sister, I learned that sometimes it is necessary to put your own desires and needs on hold to be there for the ones you love and who need you.

My sister’s selfless actions inspired me to find a way to give back to others, show respect to those who have been there for me when I needed them, and be a role model to my own children; most importantly, she showed me what it means to be humble and modest. Without these two beautiful women in my life, I know I would not be the person I am today.

I began working at NASA in 1989 as a participant in the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Cooperative Education Program as an administrative assistant for the Science & Engineering Directorate. I was 19 years old at the time and was raising and supporting my daughter, Bridgette. I was hired as a permanent employee in June 1991 after graduating from Calhoun College with my associate’s degree in business administration. In 1995, I competed and was awarded a position within the Office of the Chief Financial Officer as a civilian pay technician. This would be my first step toward a new career with promotion potential. It also motivated me to continue my education and pursue my bachelor’s degree, to better support myself and my children.

In 2006, I was asked to participate in the transition of NASA’s payroll operations from the Consolidated Payroll Office to the NASA Shared Services Center at Stennis Space Center near Bay St. Louis, Mississippi. This transition of services was one of the hardest tasks I have ever performed in my NASA career. I next applied for a position within the Marshall Center’s Office of the Chief Information Officer, where I was selected for my current post as an information technology specialist in NASA’s Enterprise Applications Competency Center, also known as NEACC. This opportunity came with a promotion effective the first day of my reassignment – God truly works in mysterious ways! At a time when I was facing one of the most challenging moments in my career, God stepped in and made it one of the happiest moments. Prayer truly changes things!

When I look back, I consider graduating from high school to be one of my greatest accomplishments because it was the first step toward furthering my education. Receiving my diploma was a great moment, owing to the many challenges I faced during my high school years. The loss of my mother at age 14 and the challenges of becoming a single parent at age 16 forced me to rely on my faith and personal strengths. I worked hard to keep my grades up while providing for and taking care of my daughter. In the end I graduated in the top 10th percentile of my senior class. My academic success in high school led to my receiving a full academic scholarship to attend college.

I am so proud, but humbled at the same time, to say that my perseverance to succeed academically and personally has rubbed off on my children: My daughter Bridgette recently graduated from college with a bachelor’s degree in nursing and my son Jaron currently is pursuing his college degree in nursing as well. Over the years, I’ve encouraged my sister Veronica to go back to school and continue her education, too. I was so excited when, in 2009, she started taking nursing courses with my son.

Away from work I enjoy spending time with my family and being involved in youth and outreach activities at my church. I love the outdoors, planting flowers, and doing my own lawn work. One of my favorite things is watching high school, college, and professional football and basketball games.

If I could tell any young person one thing, it would be this: Never give up on yourself and your dreams! NASA is definitely more than astronauts, and anyone who works for NASA can reach for the stars.

Connie Snapp

Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would one day work for NASA. My name is Connie Snapp. I’m a Contracting Officer for Langley Research Center in Hampton,VA.

I grew up in a small Missouri town of about 2,060, where people made fun of my name (Concepcion Guerrero), questioned my right to belong, called me derogatory names – sometimes people just didn’t know what to make of me. It was difficult, but I now understand that it helped to mold me into who I am today and made me fight harder to attain my goals.

My dad is from South Texas and my mom is from Mexico. They come from families who relied on migrant work for survival.

I didn’t realize until I was older what remarkable people my parents were. Neither graduated from high school. They missed so much school from traveling all over the country to work in the fields that every year they would fall months behind and it made school more and more difficult. My mom dreamed of becoming a nurse, and my dad dreamed of becoming a lawyer.

My dad grew frustrated with trying to go to school while helping to support his family so he dropped out, earned his GED and joined the Air Force. He has always had a strong work ethic. As a young child, he sold fruits and vegetables door to door to contribute to the family income. He overcame many personal challenges and persevered in making a better life for himself and us.
I’m amazed at the depths of my dad’s “can do” attitude. He had a successful Air Force career, which inspired my two brothers and husband to serve in the military. But Dad also taught himself how to grow crops, dig wells, and raise livestock. He built his own house and managed his finances so that when he retired he could choose the things he really wanted to do. My dad is my hero.

My mom earned her GED after my brothers and I left home. I still get emotional when I think of my mom at our kitchen table, under an old hanging light, studying to earn her GED so many years after dropping out of junior high school. I remember asking her, “Mom, why are you working so hard to get your GED? Are you going to get a job?”
She said, “It’s just something I have always wanted.”

She also found time to mentor a young Mexican woman who was learning to speak English and acclimating to a new country. My mom was my inspiration on days when college seemed too difficult. She taught me to become a role model for my daughter – to show her that if you want something enough, you must work hard to get it and not allow others to discourage you.

I wanted to quit many times, but how could I tell my daughter that she had to graduate college if I allowed my doubts and frustrations to stop me? All I had to do was to picture my Mom sitting at that table night after night. My mom is my hero, too.
I married right out of high school and my daughter was born 13 months later. My dream was to be an artist and a writer. I attended night courses, worked, ran a household, and raised my daughter.

We were later stationed in Florida, and I found it difficult to get a job. My husband encouraged me to earn a business degree. It was tough, and money was tight, but with my family’s encouragement, I became a full-time student, sometimes driving three hours a day, three days a week to attend classes.

I juggled school with commuting, running a household, attending my daughter’s many school functions and applying for grants and scholarships to pay for college. There were many panicked days, like when I went to a calculus course after not having had algebra for more than 10 years and had the sickening realization that I had no idea how to use my TI-83 graphing calculator while the other “kids” were playing games on theirs!
I was initially overwhelmed. That’s when I’d remember my hard working parents and my daughter and it would push me to work harder and not give up. Later, I found that overcoming these obstacles could be an inspiration to others.

My parents grew up in an environment where kids started work at an early age. Graduating high school wasn’t the highest priority. My parents raised us with modest means, but it was always understood that they wanted us to graduate high school, and we all did. Two of us hold bachelor’s and master’s degrees. I have a bachelor’s in Business Management from the University of West Florida and a masters of Acquisition Management from American Graduate University.

Thanks to the Air Force, I’ve lived in some really great places, including Guam, California and Florida, and I have been fortunate enough to visit Korea, Mexico and Japan. Those places gave me a real appreciation for cultures and diversity.

I’ve worked at NASA for four years and have had some challenging experiences, from awarding contracts from NASA Research Announcements to working a $400M multiple award acquisition for research and development to administering a dynamic Clouds and Earth’s Radiant Energy System Flight Model 6 contract.

Before NASA, I worked for the Air Force. I would cut through NASA Langley on my way to work at Langley Air Force Base and I loved driving through the center. It seemed so peaceful, with a campus-like atmosphere. It has been exciting to learn about the great research that is accomplished here and how it affects us in our everyday lives.

I appreciate hearing stories of female colleagues and what they faced on their way to equality, especially the engineers and the women in contracting. It makes me realize that everyone has conquered challenges and we all have stories to share.

I love the idea of inspiring others. I have three young nieces and a daughter that I want to be a good role model for, and I will share my story with them, too. I hope this will help to inspire other girls and young women to keep striving to reach their goals.

Charmel Jones

Although I wasn’t sure just what type of engineer I wanted to be, at an early age I knew that I wanted to be one when I grew up. It has always fascinated me to figure out how things worked, what contributed to making them work, and why things function the way that they do. My interest in engineering stemmed from attending enrichment programs within my county during the summers while I was in fourth to eighth grades. Through participation in these programs, I was able to start honing my math, science, English, foreign language, sports and technology skills at an earlier age than most of my counterparts. Of all these activities, my interest and curiosity was always peaked within the technology field. I quickly excelled in this field and it became my favorite because it challenged me to think outside of the box, provided me firsthand experience with developing and creating projects, and introduced me to problem solving. It’s amazing, but I can still remember to this very day working on my first project — building a model rocket. Although it didn’t launch just right, I remember being proud when it ignited and took off from the ground. From that point on, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-related activities and projects became a priority in my life, and I set a personal goal to become an engineer. My goal was achieved when I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University (FAMU) in May 2003. Today, I am an Aerospace Quality Engineer within the Safety and Mission Assurance (SMA) Directorate at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC).

Aside from becoming a part of the NASA family in July 2004, one of the proudest moments of my life came upon graduating from FAMU. When I graduated, I became the fourth generation within my family to complete studies at FAMU. In addition, my graduation marked another important achievement: I became the first female engineer within my family’s history. My family has continually strived and believed in educational excellence, but in over 50 years and through the many generations that preceded me, I was the first female engineer! Not only had I fulfilled my goal of becoming an engineer, I set a new record as well! I was ecstatic! Prior to my obtaining my engineering degree, it seemed as though engineering was a man’s field within my family. It felt great to break this perception and accomplish something that no other woman in my family had. While I was growing up, my family members tried to persuade me to pursue nursing, education (teaching), or business administration, but none of them appealed to me. This moment is one of the most fulfilling in my life because it was something that I earned on my own. No one gave it to me. I had to work hard and persevere to obtain it. It was also a moment that I could give testament to those that said that “I would not amount to anything” because I was raised in an “unbalanced” family that I could do anything that I put my mind and effort to.

Although I would go on to be the lead Qauality Engineer (QE) for the Calipso-Cloudsat, Space Technology (ST)-5, STEREO, THEMIS and AIM Expendable Launch Vehicle (ELV) missions, being the lead for the Pluto New Horizons (PNH) mission at KSC proved to be the one of the happiest moments of my young career because it was my first space mission. It was a significant milestone for me because it provided me the opportunity to utilize the engineering tools that I learned in theory in school and apply them to real-life applications and hardware throughout the launch campaign. The PNH spacecraft was successfully launched on Jan. 19, 2006, aboard Lockheed Martin’s Atlas V launch vehicle from Space Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. It will fly past the icy planet and its moons in July 2015 and shed light on new kinds of worlds we’ve only just discovered on the outskirts of the solar system by making the first reconnaissance of Pluto and Charon– a “double planet” and the last planet in our solar system to be visited by spacecraft. This mission was a high profile one and being able to function as the lead QE during launch vehicle manufacturing and integration at the launch pad, spacecraft integration, and launch was a prodigious feeling. As the lead QE, I was responsible for developing, implementing,and executing assurance activities and processes to aid in minimizing risk to flight hardware, personnel and mission success. Additionally, I was responsible for ensuring that the launch service contractor — Lockheed Martin, the contractor providing the ride for the spacecraft, possessed a healthy and functional Quality Management System that was capable of producing and processing flightworthy hardware per AS9100/ISO 9000 standards while also meeting NASA and KSC standards, policies and requirements.

Meg Nazario

As a senior in high school, I took a physics class. I loved the challenge of figuring things out, and I loved how math could be used to predict where a ball would land as it rolled off of a table. My teacher was amazing and helped keep my interest by making the subject so fascinating. But, I also loved playing the piano and was considering becoming a concert pianist. After much soul searching, I decided to have piano as my creative outlet and pursue physics for my career. I definitely made the right choice! I went to college and majored in physics. I then went on to get my Master’s degree in Physics and Ph.D in Electrical Engineering. Today, I work as an engineer at NASA Glenn Research Center in the Space Flight Systems Directorate, where I am a project manager for Solar Electric Propulsion (SEP). I love working at NASA.

In the 21 years I have been with NASA, I not only fulfilled that ambition but also contributed significantly to the future of aeronautics and space exploration.  I also believe I helped inspire a new generation of engineers and scientists. The whole environment at NASA has pushed me toward my goals. Everyone is so intellectual, innovative, and helpful. There are so many opportunities, and people I work with every day inspire me and push me to try new things and ideas.

I have done everything from working in a lab to managing large flight projects. At one point in my career, I was the engineer that flight tested newly developed sensors on NASA aircraft. That was a lot of fun, and I have to admit, coming to work in a flight suit was pretty cool.

In 2001, I moved into project management and started working with NASA’s Space Exploration Program. To this end, I worked on vehicle health management, propulsion, the Ares I-X flight test, the Integrated Vehicle Ground Vibration Test, and my current position as the Solar Electric Propulsion project manager at NASA Glenn. It’s a privilege to be part of such a diverse workforce integrating complex components for a flight or ground test.

I really want to be part of the next generation of technology we develop for space exploration. I have never ceased to be thoroughly excited about what I do in my job. Along the way, I have learned from NASA’s earlier generation, the Apollo engineers, technicians, and astronauts. They’re very inspiring as they were pioneers, and we have all benefited from their experience.

Loria West

There is a saying “What does not kill you only makes you stronger,” and I am living proof. I came to work for the Space Shuttle Program in 1995 as a summer college student, participating in NASA’s program for the physically disabled. I qualified because I am a paraplegic. When I was 9 years old, I was paralyzed from the waist down in a car accident that instantly killed both my parents.

Living so close to Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, visiting the U.S. Space & Rocket Center here every year, I had gained a real respect for the American space program and NASA, but I never really believed I would someday work here. That changed in the summer of 1995. I vividly remember my first day at work in the Shuttle Propulsion Office’s Reusable Solid Rocket Office, temping as a management assistant for someone taking maternity leave.

I was nervous, but I was also determined to show everyone that, even though I was in a wheelchair, I could perform my duties and did not want special attention. I had been raised to believe that any job worth doing is worth doing right. I adhered to that philosophy then, and I still do today.

After the summer program, I stayed on at NASA and went to college at the same time. I worked for 2 years as a management support assistant for organizations in the Space Shuttle Propulsion Office – including the Propulsion Systems Integration Office, the External Tank Project Office, and the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project Office.

In 1997, I graduated from Athens State University in Athens, Alabama, with a degree in business administration, and a concentration in human resources. A year later, I had a beautiful baby girl, Gabrielle, whom I am raising as a single mother. When a new challenge comes my way, I say to myself, “Move forward. Just do what has to be done.”

In 2000, in the wake of a lifted NASA hiring freeze, I became a program analyst in Marshall Space Flight Center’s Propulsion Systems Integration Office. For the next 6 years, I managed project support budgets and analyzed contracts and contractor activities for Marshall projects, including the Reusable Solid Rocket Motor Project Office, the External Tank Project Office, and associated work at Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.

Since July 2006, I have worked for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, assessing budget information at every level of the center and preparing top-level financial reports to be briefed to Marshall’s senior executive staff.

I love my job, and my life. I’ve learned that you can never give up, no matter what obstacles the world puts in front of you. My NASA career has provided me with the medical insurance I need, with no preexisting clauses. More importantly, I work with professionals in a family atmosphere, I love the work I do and the friendships I have made – and, most critically, I am able to provide for my daughter whom I love so much. NASA has allowed me to grow professionally and at home, and I am paying that forward, teaching my daughter to apply herself well in everything she does so that she too can be successful in her career and in her life.

Marshall is a place where people want to come to work. We work hard, as a family, and sometimes we even bring our families at home together to play hard. If I am remembered in the future, I’d like to be remembered as a member of two families – as a hard-working, independent woman who takes enormous pride in her job and her team at NASA, and as a loving mother who supports her bright, talented daughter 100 percent and encourages her daily to pursue her goals and achieve her dreams.

She can be anything she chooses to be. I am proof of that.

Jennifer Cole

For as long as I can remember, I was hooked on anything and everything that flew. I grew up near Willow Grove Naval Air Station outside of Philadelphia, Penn., and heard everything passing overhead, from the thunderous A-10 Thunderbolts and A-4 Skyhawks to the rhythmic thump-thump-thumping of helicopters. My parents actively encouraged my interest, and piled the family into the station wagon for every air show in the tri-state area. They also held me to very high standards for grades, attendance, and politeness. When I was 10 years old, I learned how to program in BASIC (my dad was, and still is, a computer enthusiast). I took the SATs every year starting in the 7th grade, and I enjoyed Honors classes. Math and science were especially fun and challenging for me. I was encouraged to do my best at all times in everything. Looking back, I realize how my parents’ high standards, active interest, and daily interaction influenced who I am today. I thank them for creating a stimulating, challenging, and rewarding environment for us kids.

When time came for college, my parents encouraged me to seek an education and career that were interesting to me, and not to pursue something just because it was popular or financially rewarding. My dad’s favorite saying was “Follow your heart and the bucks come later.” Given my propensity for all things aviation and my interests in math and science, aerospace engineering was a natural choice. I had always been the quiet kid in school, but once I was surrounded by fellow aspiring engineers in college, I discovered confidence to talk to others, learned to voice my opinions, and really embrace who I am.

The generation before mine remembers the moon landing. The transformative moment of my young life was the Challenger explosion. I still vividly recall the teacher rolling in the color TV on which we saw the first image of a beautiful blue sky intersected with seemingly haphazard and taunting white lines of smoke; and the absolute silence that enveloped the room. I knew I did not grasp the full magnitude of what just happened, but I knew that astronauts had died and the nation and the world were stunned. As a 9 year old, I wanted to know how NASA let this happen. It wasn’t until I was in college a decade later that I was able to wrap my head around O-rings and the limits of component testing. It was years, however, before I understood one of NASA’s biggest challenges – risk management.

In engineering, we have the tools to analyze something to 18 decimal places. We can develop and incorporate every conceivable safety feature, but it’s literally impossible to eliminate all risk in any activity, much less space exploration. We’ll never get off the ground if we take no risks. As Wilbur Wright once said, “If you are looking for perfect safety, you will do well to sit on a fence and watch the birds.” To achieve its mission, NASA strives to perform the appropriate level of analyses and testing, and to incorporate all safety precautions and still get something done – all in an effort to manage the risk, whether it is technical, schedule, or budget. NASA’s missions are inherently risky; and, in this business, risk manifests itself in many ways. It can be as relatively insignificant as rerunning an analysis. At its worst, risk can be as catastrophic as loss of life, unique or expensive machines, or both. This risk, and the responsibility of identifying and mitigating the risk, is inherent in everything we do. I have yet to meet anyone at NASA who takes either risk or responsibility lightly.

At NASA Dryden, we work with the very pilots and flight test engineers who trust their lives with our analyses and aircraft. As an aerodynamics engineer, I was actively mentored in my analysis, in the vital 

role of the project engineer in the safety review process, and in my responsibility to speak up. My mentors instilled in me the importance of taking the time to ask the right questions, and actively seeking opinions on my work. Later on, as a Project Chief Engineer, I listened to the people who brought their opinions to me and I sought out the people who weren’t knocking on my door, in an effort to chart a balanced path of acceptable risk and effective progress. I talked to many people who weren’t involved in my project, junior and senior alike, to get their feedback on our approach. Now, as a supervisor, it’s my responsibility to mentor the new engineers and remind everyone else of the importance of speaking up if they believe there’s a problem, and elevating that problem if they didn’t feel it was properly addressed. At Dryden, we have a rule – anyone can stop any mission for any reason without retribution. It’s extremely important to realize you have the power to create a culture of speaking up without retribution, if you practice it yourself. My mentors taught me that, and I thank them every day for their efforts by being a mentor myself.

It is no secret that NASA is at a crossroads now. Some people argue that NASA’s mission isn’t necessary anymore; others believe we should continue doing what we’ve been doing. I won’t pretend to know the right answer, but I do know that NASA’s jobs are challenging and stimulating; and the people in its ranks are brilliant, accomplished, dedicated, and humble. I can’t imagine there’s nothing for us to do anymore. It’s been my experience that, at NASA, the work is its own reward. I am truly honored to be working in this capacity for the American people, and I don’t ever take NASA’s mission, my job, or its many responsibilities for granted. The way I look at it: I may have no idea where I’ll end up, but I’m sure looking forward to the ride.

Corazon Millena

As an elementary student and continuing through high school, I learned how to work hard and earn a living. At a very young age, I learned how to gather Manila clams and blue crabs at the bay, worked as a fish vendor, and as a young adult, I became a seamstress. At one point, I even learned and manufactured brown paper bags and sold bundles of them at the nearby grocery stores. In my youth, I learned how to do all kinds of housework. In my elementary school, I remember when I was a fifth grade student, NASA had become a popular name in every corner of the world. I was about 10 or 11 years old when Echo-1 launched into orbit. Shortly after this significant event, our elementary school’s social studies teacher wrote acronyms on the classroom chalkboard — and one of them was NASA. She asked the class what it stood for. After hearing the answer, our teacher said that NASA is one of the government agencies in the United States of America, where astronauts and scientists work. From that moment, I wondered what America looked like. “Are all the homes made of bricks and concrete? Is the soil the same? Do they have lots of trees?” I used to climb trees when I was young. “Are there lots of tall buildings?” Believe it or not, I started wondering if one day, we might live in America. Then I thought, ”What happens when I grow up and maybe someday work for NASA? Will they take me? Will they let me work there?” Although I asked myself those questions, I also thought it was an unrealistic dream. I didn’t know what made me think that, or why I had that idea, when in reality, it was not going to happen. I walked two miles home from school, still thinking about that little “day dream. ” The fact that we came from a poor family, when even my other siblings’ goal of achieving high school education was such a struggle, I was left cherishing the thought and accepted the truth that my “day dream” was far from being real. With so many other things to occupy my mind, the dream faded away and my childhood fantasy ended that day. I graduated from elementary school and went to high school and finished in 1968. I stopped school for two years to help my brother and my sister by selling fish at the market. When my older brother, Albert, started to earn enough to help his younger siblings get their college degrees, he assumed the responsibilities for his younger sisters’ and brother’s education. Because of my family’s cooperative effort, perseverance, ambition, and great desire to receive a higher education, Albert supported himself and became a civil engineer. With his help, my sister, Erminda, became an architect; I became an accountant and my younger brother studied electrical engineering. In 1972, Albert came to the United States and worked for the U.S. Army and the federal government as a scientist-engineer. To make the story short, my whole family came to America in the mid 1970′s. You may note that the first part of my “day dream” became a reality. We came to America and I found the answers to my questions. With my own eyes, I saw that it wasn’t a dream anymore. I soon started my first job and worked at different private companies for nine years. Twenty-two years after that little girl’s dream, I started working for the Office of the Comptroller of the Naval Air Station at Moffett Field in 1983. I applied for a job at NASA, while I was nine months pregnant with my third son. I was interviewed three days after he was born, got the job and transferred to NASA in early 1985, not as a scientist as I dreamed about, but as a budget analyst. I will always be proud of my brother. It was his hard work that got us all where we are now, along with all the prayers from my ever-praying mother. God looked after us and was guiding us in every way during those hard times.

Anne-Marie Novo-Gradac

In 1994, we moved to Annapolis, Maryland, where I had accepted a faculty position at the United States Naval Academy. During my time at the Naval Academy, I conducted research on optical materials and taught a wide variety of physics courses to the Navy midshipmen studying at the Academy. Although I loved teaching, I found the research environment at the Naval Academy limiting. In 2001, I began looking for a different job. I learned of a position at Goddard Space Flight Center through a friend. I had no idea that NASA hired laser physicists. I never imagined I had a chance of working for NASA! Like many people of my generation, I had grown up watching NASA launches on TV with awe. One of my earliest memories is of the Apollo 11 lunar landing when I was 3 years old. (I can still remember how funny the astronauts looked as they bounced across the moon’s surface.) I never planned to work for NASA, and certainly had never dared to dream it. I got the interview and eventually a phone call offering me a job in the Lasers and Electro-optics Branch at Goddard. I literally skipped down the hallway with joy. I was going to work at NASA! I had been hired to help design the laser for the Mercury Laser Altimeter (MLA) instrument on the MESSENGER mission. Two months after starting work at Goddard, the laser physicist in charge of the team left NASA for a job in industry. I was promoted to team lead for the MLA laser and given full responsibility for delivering space flight hardware. This profoundly changed me from a research physicist to an aerospace design engineer almost overnight. I had to consider issues such as mass, volume, and power consumption. I could no longer work in the vacuum of a laboratory, but had to negotiate detailed interfaces with the other subsystems of the instrument. I never imagined that my dream job would require so much planning. I rose to the challenge and led my team for the next 2 years, delivering the laser for integration into the MLA instrument in July 2003. MESSENGER launched in 2004 and will arrive at Mercury in March 2011. During the voyage, the instrument has been turned on several times, and each time it has operated flawlessly. From 2003 to 2005, I led a research effort to examine failure modes of space-based lasers and worked to enhance performance and reliability of these systems. Some of the issues my team and I studied were long-term optical damage, contamination, thermal management, radiation tolerance, and reliability of commercial piece parts. In 2005, I took over leadership of the team building the laser for the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA), an instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). LRO is currently orbiting the moon, and the LOLA instrument has produced over 1 billion laser shots on orbit, returning the most detailed topographical data of the moon ever recorded. During each of these projects at Goddard, I accepted more and more management responsibilities. I spent an increasing amount of time organizing and facilitating the work of other scientists and engineers and less and less time doing the hands-on work myself. I realized that it was my job to make sure other people had the resources to get their jobs done. I no longer had the luxury of being in the lab myself. I was just too darn good at planning! In 2007, I was offered a position as a program executive in the Astrophysics

Lori Garver

My interest in space stems from my belief that what we have done, are doing, and can do in space is critical to the future of humanity. Throughout my career—whether it was working directly for NASA, training in Russia to become a space flight participant, advising aerospace corporations how best to help NASA be successful, or having the honor of being the lead for civil space policy for the Obama Presidential Campaign and transition team—I have worked toward that goal. My belief is that space exploration, science, technology, and commerce have the potential to contribute significantly to this country’s technical advancement, scientific knowledge, economic growth, educational advancement, and national security. While I have always wanted to travel to space myself, I feel it is more important to facilitate the space travel aspirations of others, not just my own. One of NASA’s unique roles is to lead the U.S. space effort in ways that allow people to experience the benefits and value of NASA. not just by flying in space but also by learning about our discoveries and participating in public engagement and outreach activities.

It is an honor to pursue my interest in space through public service as NASA Deputy Administrator. I believe in the importance of public service and the positive impact that government can have on people. This belief comes from growing up in Michigan and volunteering for the political campaigns of my uncle and grandfather, who were members of the Michigan State Legislature and State Senate. These experiences. combined with my parents’ positive outlook and encouragement, gave me the confidence to set goals for myself that were not typical for a girl from Haslett, Michigan. At Colorado College in Colorado Springs, I decided to major in political economy, inspired by this interest in public service. My freshman year at college I even volunteered for Ronald Regan’s campaign for President! But 4 years later, when I graduated from Colorado College and moved to Washington, D.C., I volunteered on John Glenn’s Presidential Campaign. After studying political science and economics in college, a semester of that overseas, I believed the U.S. policy of restricting foreign aid and other national policies were misguided and set out to forge a better future.

After volunteering for the John Glenn’s Presidential Campaign for a few months, I was hired as a receptionist and after a few months there, moved to the scheduling office. When the campaign was over, I was hired at the National Space Institute as the secretary/bookkeeper/receptionist. I would not trade these experiences for anything. My advice to folks just starting out in their career has always been to take any opportunity, if it is in your field of interest. Whether it is answering phones, doing basic research, or making PowerPoint charts—get to know people, do your best, and learn everything you can. The excitement from my youthful career experiences in the space field lit the spark that continues to burn today. My career-long passion for space began in those jobs, which led to graduate school, where I got my masters in science and technology policy with an emphasis on space policy.

My family has always been extremely interested and supportive of my work—so I don’t feel too guilty when I have to work from home or take my BlackBerry® to football and soccer games. I have a wonderful husband of nearly 25 years and two teenage boys. While my schedule is very busy now—I have had more flexible jobs in the past, when it was even more important for me to be home—I actually believe the boys and I are closer because they respect my choices and they know I want them to make their own choices as well. Now that they are 16 and 18 years old, I think they are thrilled that I have a life and am not so focused on them. As for my husband, that is another story. I’m pretty sure I need to focus on him a little more—we miss each other a lot with my long hours at work. He has been incredible at taking on the major parenting and household duties at home. I couldn’t do it without him.

My career has been extremely rewarding, and having the opportunity to work with exceptional women throughout it is a big part of that reward. Women continue to break down walls in the traditionally male-dominated aerospace fields, but we need to do better. While women have reached parity with men in a number of professional fields, engineering and many of the science disciplines stand out as areas in which improvement is still needed. NASA counts strong and accomplished women at all levels of the agency, but I am too often among a small minority of women in senior management meetings. A more diverse workforce can make even greater contributions to our quest for knowledge about our planet and universe, and allow us to reach new heights in technology and innovation as we inspire current and future generations to become interested in science, technology, engineering, and math.

I am grateful for each day that I am allowed to come to work at NASA. My mother and father encouraged me to set goals and reach them, and NASA is a place where each day we challenge ourselves to exceed our grasp. Our efforts contribute to a better future for humankind, and it is a privilege to serve this great nation at such a critical time.

Rhonda Baker

Initially, when I started working for NASA, I can’t say that there was something that inspired me. I longed to return to my career field of procurement, and an opportunity became available at NASA. The inspiration came later, as I became more involved with the programs and projects I supported.

I began my career at NASA in 1998. While preparing to move to California, I applied for a contract specialist position at NASA Ames Research Center. Initially, there were conversations with Human Resources and Procurement management. However, many months went by without any contact. By this time, I assumed the job had been filled and applied for a job with the Department of Education in San Francisco. One day, I received a call from Ames’ Human Resources inquiring if I was still interested in a position with NASA. I was quite surprised to receive the telephone call, but very happy. They explained that shortly after our last conversation, a hiring freeze had been invoked. I expressed my continued interest, as I enjoyed procurement work and was eager to return to it. Within a month, I was hired as a contract specialist at Ames. I could not have been more thrilled. Shortly after, I resumed my role as a contracting officer in the Acquisition Division. I later served as the Acting Branch Chief for Business and Operations, and occasionally as the Acting Deputy Division Chief for Acquisition.

While working in the Acquisition Division, I administered and awarded a number of large, complex procurements for various programs and projects. I began to realize the various kinds of work NASA did involved much more than space exploration. Although the extent of NASA’s research and technology was overwhelming, it also was very exciting. The more contracts I awarded, the more my interests were piqued to gain a better understanding of the work I supported. I challenged myself to do the best job possible to help people with whom I worked be successful. In addition, I admired the vision and passion of the scientists and engineers who championed and managed the programs and projects. I later developed an appreciation for the benefits so many people have received through NASA work, such as those working in the medical field. It became apparent to me the important role the Acquisition Division played in ensuring that Ames reached its goals and NASA met its mission. In 2003, I was honored by the Assistant Administrator for Procurement as NASA’s Contract Specialist of the Year.

In 2007, I was selected as the special assistant position to the Center Operations Directorate. In 2008, I was promoted to assistant director, overseeing the center’s Management Controls Program for organization, policies and procedures. Currently, I serve as the Associate Director of Center Operations.

I’m most proud of helping others. I never hesitate to mentor others, share my knowledge, and promote training and development for my colleagues. Seeing other’s sincere hard work and dedication pay off for them, is rewarding to me. There has always been a calling “to serve” for me – to family, friends, community, work, and country. Some have said, “She’s almost dedicated to a fault.” I take great pride in working hard and helping others do their very best.

The saddest moment of my career occurred when a very special mentor passed away. I not only lost one of my best teachers, but a colleague and friend. It was a difficult time, but I learned to persevere. I would recall things that my mentor said or taught me to see me through tough days at work. I always relied on his wisdom to help me complete a procurement project. You really learn to take nothing for granted and count your blessings every day.

You can’t help reminiscing about all of the people who helped to shape your life and who played a major role encouraging you to become the person you are today. From that summer student position with the federal government, to where I am today, there have always been people in my life motivating me to stretch my abilities to achieve my dreams. This is the advice I would like to pass on to the next generation – don’t be afraid to stretch your abilities.

I truly enjoy working for NASA. I try to focus on the positives. Keeping the job fun helps to keep the negative energy at bay. Encouraging new employees to learn as much as they can about NASA and their centers, excel in their careers, take on new assignments, and do the best job possible, is always at the forefront for me. Believing in NASA makes it easy for me to be a motivator and champion for what the agency strives to accomplish in space exploration.

Wanda Peters

were talking about something that I could actually see at night, the moon. I thought, “Wow, somebody’s actually up there.” Even though as a child I did not understand the significance this event, it had a big impact on my desire to understand things that I could not fully comprehend.

I am most proud of always striving to be a positive role model. Throughout my NASA journey, I have tried to give back. I have been very fortunate to achieve positions of influence throughout my career. Having positions of influence and authority comes with big responsibilities. I believe one of the greatest gifts you can bestow on someone is being a positive influence, motivation, or support system for them. That is why I participate in numerous outreach activities and share my story with elementary, middle school, and high school students. I mentor summer interns, college students, administrative professional, junior engineers, and mid-level engineers. Additionally, I am an advocate for diversity and equal opportunity in the workplace. I truly believe children are our future, and if we don’t invest in our children we can’t expect to have much of a future.

In our fast-paced technology-focused environment, leadership and communication skills are a necessity. We influence and lead people in many ways. Seeing the impact of my influence and leadership in my various roles motivates me to become a better and more effective leader. At a Goddard Space Flight Center EO Retreat, facilitator Steve Robbins asked us the question, “Do you want to be right or do you want to be effective?” This question resonated with me. I strive to be right in all aspects of my life, but what I want most of all is to be effective. Until last May, one of my many roles consisted of teaching ballet and tap to children from 5 to 18 years old. As one of three site managers, I was responsible for overseeing the instruction of six dance classes, interfacing with parents and instructors, but most of all interacting with the dance students. When you interact with children, you truly see your effectiveness in influencing and leading people. Children mimic your actions, respond to your body language, and mimic your mannerisms. They decide at a very basic level if they will follow you or not. It is good to be right, but it can be more productive to be effective. Regardless if it is a 5-year-old child or an accomplished aerospace engineer, the members of your team or organization look to you for guidance, fairness, encouragement, and respect. It is my personal goal to make a positive difference in all the lives I have the privilege to touch.

Mary Ann Esfandiari

It has been such an honor to be part of the NASA and GSFC team for more than 30 years. I still love it and am enthusiastic about coming to work each day! In looking back, I can’t say that I started with a grand plan when I was younger about where my career would go but I can say that I had a passion about space and, in particular, astronomy. I was fascinated about the detail I could see when I trained my first telescope on the Moon and this passion fueled my desire to pick Astronomy as my major at University of Maryland. Getting that degree was not easy for me. I had no particular natural talent for the complex math and multi-dimensional thought process one needed to understand and complete the course work. There were days when I thought I just couldn’t do it. But, one of the skills I do have is resilience and this got me through. I asked for help repeatedly, pestered those that had that natural talent, scoured every physics and astronomy book in the library and became a fixture in the lab. It worked and I got better at the material. The day I discovered the COOP office at University of Maryland was great. I was not aware of COOP opportunities but I had heard there were work study programs so I went exploring. Being a student that was working my way through school, I had several part-time jobs but balancing all this with school was tricky and left little time for anything else. When I heard about COOP opportunities with NASA at GSFC, I dared to dream that this might come true for me. It did! I can’t express how thrilled I was to get that call. I was ready to start that day! My early COOP experiences had me in the microelectronics lab in the “bunny suit” growing oxide on silicon wafers that I would load into a quartz rack called a “boat” and slide into various high temperature furnaces for specific periods of time. Once photo resist was exposed to the wafer, the silicon dioxide would be etched off in an acid solution and the etched areas thicknesses could be measured using a sensitive stylus that would move across the surface. I loved the work and learning the process. I was a part of the NASA team! Many days I went home and later discovered little holes in my clothes from the acid that had perhaps splashed in one of the processing steps. After more than 10 years working in a variety of hands-on lab and computer programming positions, I started to think about continuing my education. Should I continue in Astronomy or something else? At this time I was working in the Lab for High Energy Astrophysics supporting the scientists in developing science data analysis software and working on some of the early graphics systems. I enjoyed this work and it kept me close to the science. Once of my assignments was to get the early High Energy Astronomy Observatory (HEAO-1) Quick Look science data in the morning to see if there were any ‘unusual counts’ in the detectors that measured incoming photons. The HEAO-1 mission surveyed the X-Ray sky. I was stunned to see a complete saturation and large counts in several of the detectors. It turned out that this was the remnants of supernova 1987a which was seen by a number of x-ray detectors in February 1987. Wow! This was exciting stuff and I was thrilled to be able to participate with the scientists on their analysis and discoveries. After much thought I decided to continue my education in Computer Science and earned a MS in this field at George Washington University. I had found my niche. Although I enjoyed the amateur astronomy and the studies required to get my BS degree in Astronomy, I loved working with the scientists and developing specialized computer application code based on their requirements. I had a front row seat into new detector development, requirements for new science missions and the resulting science discoveries on the structure and evolution of the universe plus I had a skill that I could apply to support this work. Although I enjoyed each position that I have held, it did not come without challenges along with ups and downs. As I moved from the early hands-on work to more management positions, the work sometimes became harder and the problems were not always easy to solve. I made plenty of mistakes, learning from each along the way and making improvements. Like any good wine, I’d like to think I got better with time! Being an officer in the Naval Reserve for the past 23 years has also helped to develop my leadership skills. I no longer feel the stress I once did when faced with a brand new assignment. From having been exposed to a wide variety of positions and challenges, I think I have gained from each and each has improved my ability to take on something new and ensure that I contribute to the mission at GSFC. The gift that GSFC provides to its employees is the wide variety of work and opportunity to apply and compete for new assignments, new experiences and greater challenges. From working on the science data analysis portion of the mission where the data has already been transmitted to the ground, to working on the flight software that operates the systems onboard the spacecraft that will, upon command, then transmit data to now working in the space communication area, I feel I have experienced a large part of the spectrum of science missions. If I was to convey to new employees some of my thoughts on what would ensure their success, I’d tell them several things: • Do your absolute best at every assignment. Be committed. Not every job is great fun but every job is important and a contributing factor to the success at GSFC. Stay in a position at least until you have achieved a measure of success. Always ask your supervisor how you are doing and don’t be afraid to hear you need improvement. Everyone makes mistakes. Make improvements, move on.