Women's Contributions to Aeronautics and Space: Historical Milestones
When NASA was chartered in 1958, women had begun to make their mark, not
just in support roles, but also, as pioneer engineers, scientists, pilots, mathematicians and
technicians. The contribution of women to the mission of the National Aeronautics and
Space Administration dates back to NASA's predecessor, the National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics (NACA). The contribution of women to flight and
aeronautics dates back almost to the first successful powered flight on December 17,
1903.
Destinies sometimes seem to reveal themselves early in a person's life. For
Annie Jump Cannon, her early fascination with stars and rainbows cast from prisms was
a clue to what her life's work would be. At sixteen, Annie was among the first of the
young women from Delaware to attend college. Although she displayed a talent for
music, she chose to focus her studies on physics at Wellesley College. Following
graduation, Annie also developed skills in the new art of photography, and traveled to
Spain to photograph the solar eclipse in 1892.Two years later, Annie Cannon returned to
Wellesley to assist in the physics lab. she studied mathematics and advanced physics, and
added courses in astronomy. With her interests in stars, photography and spectrums, she
was a natural for a career in astronomy, which she was beginning to realize.
In 1897, Annie Cannon joined the staff at the Harvard College Observatory, where she
was to work for over forty years. During her lifetime of studying spectrograms
Juarez2
(photographic plates), she learned to read the stars' spectra with ease. "They aren't just
streaks to me," she said. "Each new spectrum is the gateway to a wonderful new world. It
is almost as if the distant stars had really acquired speech and were able to tell of their
constitution and physical condition." Annie Cannon ultimately named and...
More Space
essays:
This is an essay about the tragedies of space travel.
... is expected in a field of work that's exploratory and uncertain such as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space program, any tragedy that occurs often makes inside employees, government ...
Satellites and Sputnik
... started National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which is a governmental run organization that does all of the space research ...
Research paper on NASA (thesis and outline and work cited page).
... in space is called a rocket engine. This is because it carries its own oxygen supply. This is also where the National Aeronautics and Space Administration netter known as NASA come ...
Neil Armstrong
... after graduating from Purdue University in 1955, Armstrong joined the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, then known as the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. At the time the functions of the N.A.C ...
NASA
... On July 28, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act to create the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, which, of course, is NASA, which was to be headed by T. Keith Glennan. The ...
A Cold Race to the Moon: The Apollo Program
... power and prestige in their ongoing political battle. The organization known today as NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was ... year. It was preceded by the Gemini program that American engineers would later find out to be useful in developing the ...
Final Shuttle Report
... scheduled to kick off the busiest year ever for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). A year in which Halleys comet would be observed ...
The Race to the Moon.
... up with the Soviets. The space race had begun. The National Air and Space Administration or NASA, was formed in 1958, and von Braun’s team joined ... Soviet engineer Sergei P. Korolev, along with Vladimir Glushko were sent to Germany to study what bits of the V2 program the Americans had left them. ...