Category: Science Snacks
Marianne Dyson, December 2017
The first landing on the Moon is often cited as the most historic achievement of the 20th century. With the upcoming 50th anniversaries of the Apollo missions, and the popularity of the book and movie Hidden Figures depicting the contributions of black women during the Mercury Program (1958-63), many people are asking what role women played in Mission Control leading up to and during the Moon missions.
A decade before I wrote my memoir, A Passion for Space, about my experiences working the first Space Shuttle flights, I collected the rosters starting with Gemini 4 (Gemini 3 was controlled from Florida) and talked with other flight controllers to discover the first women assigned technical positions in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR).
The first woman assigned a technical console in a support room was Frances (Poppy) M. Northcutt in the Flight Dynamics Support room during Apollo 8 in 1968. She is generally acknowledged as the first female flight controller. The first woman in a primary position (in the Mission Operations Control Room, MOCR, seen on TV) was Carolyn Huntoon at the Experiments console during Skylab in 1973.
But there were women working in Mission Control, in the MOCR and support rooms starting with Gemini 8 in March 1966. Who were these pioneering women?
Bond, Allison Bond
The first woman assigned a position in Mission Control at Johnson Space Center was Allison Bond. She worked as an assistant to the Public Affairs Officer (PAO), Paul Haney (1928-2009), for Gemini 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. I believe the woman in this photo from Gemini 8 is her: https://outlet.historicimages.com/products/rsj01683. (It costs $10 for this image which I will pay if someone can confirm for me that this is indeed Allison Bond!)
This woman worked the PAO console for Skylab in 1974. Could this be Allison Bond or maybe Patricia Santee? Is the guy Doug Ward? This is my photo of a NASA photo.
There was also a secretary in the room for Gemini 10 and 11. Her name was Virginia Engle. I suspect she reported to Chris Kraft who was the Flight/Mission Operations Director, the boss of the Flight Directors.
The
The Sun Has Spots
Marianne Dyson, November 2017
Did you know that the sun rotates on its axis about once a month? Since all sides of the sun look essentially the same, how can scientists tell how fast it goes around? The sun has spots! These spots act as markers for what part of the sun is facing Earth. By tracking their motion, scientists can clock the rate of motion of the surface.
A group of sunspots appear near the center of the Sun in this photo taken during the eclipse on August 21. These spots first appeared on the edge of the Sun on August 14.
Harvey Disruption
Marianne Dyson September 2017
The night that Harvey ripped through Houston, I was drafting my September blog about the sunspots I’d seen during the solar eclipse.
No Astronaut Gender Parity
Marianne Dyson July/August 2017
When NASA announced a new group of twelve astronauts in June, I was disappointed to hear that only five of the twelve candidates selected are female, and only one is black. I had expected NASA to select an equal number of men and women like they did in 2013. I even dared to hope they might boldly select MORE women than men and several blacks to compensate for there being twice as many men as women and only one black woman in the current astronaut corps.
L to R, back row: Jonny Kim (Doctor, CA), Warren Hoburg (MIT Professor, PA), Frank Rubio (Major US Army, FL), Kayla Barron (Lt. Navy, WA), Bob Hines (NASA Pilot, PA), Matthew Dominick (Lt. Cdr, Navy, CO), Raja Chari (Lt. Col. USAF, IA). Front row: Robb Kulin (SpaceX Engineer, AK), Zena Cardman (Research Fellow, VA), Jasmin Moghbeli (Major, Marines, NY), Jessica Watkins (Research Fellow, CO), Loral O
Kobayashi Maru, a.k.a. the Loss of Space Shuttle Cooling
Marianne Dyson, June 2017
As a young flight controller, I was assigned to write the crew procedures for what to do if the space shuttle
Mission Control: Unsung Heroes
Marianne Dyson, May 2017
I saw the premier of Mission Control: The Unsung Heroes of Apollo at Space Center Houston on April 11. The documentary tells the story of the Apollo years (1967-72) through the eyes of the flight controllers in Houston
The First Woman on the Moon
Marianne Dyson, April 2017
Russia is selecting six to eight new cosmonauts this year. The March 14 Roscosmos press release said,
Black Women Astronauts
Marianne Dyson March 2017
March is Women
Mars Needs Moms
Marianne Dyson February 2017
Space enthusiasts imagine Martian moms and dads happily raising families on the Red Planet. This dream future will not happen if something about the trip to Mars or the environment on Mars causes adults to become infertile or children conceived or born on Mars to have serious birth defects.
Though there is currently no reason to expect such a dire outcome, maybe we ought to reassure ourselves of a bright future in space by flying more women. Not surprisingly, this is the top recommendation that came out of a study conducted by NASA and the National Science Biomedical Research Institute,