As NASA announced the successful landing of Perseverance on Mars, Americans were able to rejoice in a wonderful moment of our country at its best. As the public celebrated, they noticed another reason to celebrate – at the progressive diversity in representation seen throughout the control room.
As we look in awe at the images of the red desert planet sent back by Perseverance – such as the Jezero Crater below – we also celebrate Women’s History Month, so let us take a moment to praise some of the women helping humanity reach Mars.
Moving from India to the United States when she was just 1 year old, Swati Mohan helps one regain faith in the ‘American Dream’. Working at NASA’S Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), she completed her B.S. from Cornell University before receiving her M.S. and Ph.D. from MIT in Aeronautics/Astronautics.
Having worked on many missions such as Cassini and GRAIL, Mohan now leads the Guidance & Controls Operations for Perseverance. As a lead systems engineer on Mars 2020, she was also in charge of the attitude control system of the rover – acting as its eyes and ears from its descent in space through the ensuing successful landing.
For Perseverance, she has worked on and guided the teams responsible for 3 of the 7 crucial instruments on the rover – MEDA (weather station), RIMFAX (radar), and PIXL (spectrometer). From initial design through hardware certification, she has contributed 13 pieces of instrument hardware and 3 instrument software packages for the rover.
On her NASA biography, Hernandez champions the importance of diversity and inclusion in STEM, saying:
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion in STEM build highly resilient, engaged, and innovative teams. They lead to a more connected team culture that recognizes the criticality of transparency, communication, and feedback, especially in technical environments.”
Specializing in the operations of robotic spacecraft, Sarah Milkovich works as Science Systems Engineer and a planetary geologist for JPL. Helping to coordinate between different teams of operations, she also acts as documentarian for the science definition team. On Mars 2020, Milkovich orchestrates the science and engineering teams, helping them work together to direct the rover.
On her NASA biography, Milkovich says that “to get creative solutions to our problems, we need to have a wide range of voices and perspectives at the discussion table.”
On her NASA biography, Bosak states that “science funded by the society represents said society and is meaningful to the general public. I’d believe that equity is on par with these two.”
Having worked on the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Mars Opportunity, and now the Mars 2020 perseverance mission, Rice contributes with her expertise in stratigraphy, sedimentology and mineralogy.
As part of the Mastcam-Z instrument team for Mars 2020, she helped create the rover’s camera design, allowing it to see in multiple wavelengths of light. Now that Perseverance has landed on the planet’s surface, she helps operate its advanced camera.
From conception through execution, she made her mark on the Spirit and Opportunity rovers and continues to be a leader for all systems engineering activities including specification, validation, verification and ground operations.
On her NASA biography, Trosper makes the case that diversity and inclusion “offers a broader perspective on how we do business and makes us more successful. It’s a fact. I have first-hand evidence, as I have a daughter with different abilities, and her perspective on life is extraordinarily valuable and impacts how I think about things and makes me a better person on a daily basis.”
Currently working as Surface Strategic Mission Manager at JPL, Hwang has worked on multiple Mars missions – including Mars Global Surveyor, Genesis, the Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity, and now Perseverance.
As the Strategic Mission Manager for Mars 2020 Surface Operations, she will direct the rover’s scientific studies in order to efficiently execute all goals before the end of the Martian year (687 Earth days).
When asked “What have been your biggest challenges as a female in the male-dominated space industry?” by local Los Angeles magazine L.A. Parent, Hwang replied:
“My biggest challenge/epiphany was realizing that everyone, including me, has this internal unconscious bias of who could make a good manager (you automatically picture similar people who are currently managers) and how certain genders should behave in meetings. For example, it is accepted for a man to be loud, short and direct, but for a woman it can be poorly received and considered too blunt.”
As NASA continues to lead in the exploration of the final frontier, it is a pleasant development to see their progression towards meaningful diversity. Although one of many scientific institutions, NASA has a special place in the hearts of Americans as a symbol of our country’s most admirable accomplishments. Continuing to inspire future generations to believe that the sky is indeed not the limit, everyone should be able to identify with those who are reaching out for the stars.
Author: Liam Penn (Dark Matters)