NASA career
Project Apollo
Jobs for women with mathematics degrees were not common in the early 1960s, and she did not want to become a teacher, so she went to graduate school, where she worked towards her master's degree. A friend's mother drew her attention to an article in the newspaper that said "NASA's looking for women scientists and engineers." [3] When she went for an interview at the Manned Spaceflight Center, she was unimpressed with the building, which was a disused box factory with no windows, and the people, who she thought were strange. However, she met a woman whose husband worked at NASA and was looking for people. A second interview was arranged, and this job was more to her liking. [3] She was hired as an "aerospace technologist", which annoyed some of the engineers who had the same job classification. [1]
Hook's first assignment was modeling lighting on the Moon. This was of great importance at the time, as it was vital to know what the view would look like when astronauts attempted to land the lunar module. Most engineers were not much interested; it was not something on the college syllabus. She found that the subject had been researched by Russian physicists in the 1920s, who were interested in the lunar albedo, and they had created a full mathematical treatment of the subject. There were very few women working for NASA at the time in technical roles, and the men often played cruel practical jokes. She became fed up with the behavior of two of the men in her group, and decided to switch to another. She went to work for Humboldt C. Mandell, Jr., who was working on developing cost models. These were projections far into the future. [1] [3] She returned to the University of Houston, where she completed her studies, and was awarded a Master of Science degree in mathematics in 1965. [4]
Hooks studied the dynamics of the launch escape system, and the effects of jet plumes coming from the Lunar Module's ascent propulsion system and descent propulsion system. She also investigated the dynamics of the Apollo flight systems. [5]
Software
Foreseeing that computers would become more important, Hooks headed the Aerodynamics Systems Analysis Section of the Aerodynamics Branch in the Engineering Analysis Division from 1973 to 1977. She headed the Spacecraft Software Division in Data Systems and Analysis Directorate from 1978 to 1980, and was the Software Manager in the Spacecraft Software Division in the Data Systems and Analysis Directorate from 1980 to 1981. She was manager of the Shuttle Data Office in the Space Shuttle Program Office from 1981 to 1982, acting head of the Integration and Operations Section, Flight Software Branch in the Spacecraft Software Division from 1982 to 1983, and Chief of the Flight Software Branch of Spacecraft Software Division in the Mission Support Directorate from 1982 to 1984. [4]
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas, where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late US president and Texas native, Lyndon B. Johnson, by an act of the United States Senate on February 19, 1973.
Judith Arlene Resnik was an American electrical engineer, software engineer, biomedical engineer, pilot and NASA astronaut who died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. She was the fourth woman, the second American woman and the first Jewish woman of any nationality to fly in space, logging 145 hours in orbit.
Mary Louise Cleave was an American engineer and NASA astronaut. She also served from 2005 to 2007 as NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.
Nancy Jane Currie-Gregg is an American engineer, United States Army officer and a NASA astronaut. Currie-Gregg has served in the United States Army for over 22 years and holds the rank of colonel. With NASA, she has participated in four space shuttle missions: STS-57, STS-70, STS-88, and STS-109, accruing 1,000 hours in space. She currently holds an appointment as a professor of practice in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University.
Bonnie Jeanne Dunbar is an American engineer and retired NASA astronaut. She flew on five Space Shuttle missions between 1985 and 1998, including two dockings with the Mir space station.
Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton is an American scientist and a former NASA astronaut with over 975 hours in space, including 21 hours of extravehicular activity. She was the associate dean for graduate programs at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, currently a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.
Christopher Columbus Kraft Jr. was an American aerospace and NASA engineer who was instrumental in establishing the agency's Mission Control Center and shaping its organization and culture. His protégé Glynn Lunney said in 1998: "the Control Center today ... is a reflection of Chris Kraft".
Anna Lee Fisher is an American chemist, emergency physician and a former NASA astronaut. Formerly married to fellow astronaut Bill Fisher, and the mother of two children, in 1984, she became the first mother to fly in space. During her career at NASA, she was involved with three major programs: the Space Shuttle, the International Space Station and the Orion spacecraft.
Stephanie Diana Wilson is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut. She flew to space onboard three Space Shuttle missions, and is the second African American woman to go into space, after Mae Jemison. As of 2022, her 42 days in space are the second most of any female African American astronaut, having been surpassed by Jessica Watkins in 2022, however in 2024 she was assigned to the Crew-9 mission during which she should retake the lead.
Joan Elizabeth Higginbotham is an electrical engineer and a former NASA astronaut. She flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-116 as a mission specialist and is the third African American woman to go into space, after Mae Jemison and Stephanie Wilson.
Flight controllers are personnel who aid space flight by working in such Mission Control Centers as NASA's Mission Control Center or ESA's European Space Operations Centre. Flight controllers work at computer consoles and use telemetry to monitor various technical aspects of a space mission in real-time. Each controller is an expert in a specific area and constantly communicates with additional experts in the "back room". The flight director, who leads the flight controllers, monitors the activities of a team of flight controllers, and has overall responsibility for success and safety.
Jay Henry Greene was a NASA engineer. Between 2000 and 2004, he served as Chief Engineer at Johnson Space Center, where his role consisted primarily of advising the Center Director. He worked as a FIDO flight controller during the Apollo Program and a flight director from 1982 to 1986, and as ascent flight director during the 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
Glynn Stephen Lunney was an American NASA engineer. An employee of NASA since its creation in 1958, Lunney was a flight director during the Gemini and Apollo programs, and was on duty during historic events such as the Apollo 11 lunar ascent and the pivotal hours of the Apollo 13 crisis. At the end of the Apollo program, he became manager of the Apollo–Soyuz Test Project, the first collaboration in spaceflight between the United States and the Soviet Union. Later, he served as manager of the Space Shuttle program before leaving NASA in 1985 and later becoming a vice president of the United Space Alliance.
Nicole Marie Passonno Stott is an American engineer and a retired NASA astronaut. She served as a flight engineer on ISS Expedition 20 and Expedition 21 and was a mission specialist on STS-128 and STS-133. After 27 years of working at NASA, the space agency announced her retirement effective June 1, 2015. She is married to Christopher Stott, a Manx-born American space entrepreneur.
Goddard Space Flight Center is NASA's first, and oldest, space center. It is named after Robert H. Goddard, the father of modern rocketry. Throughout its history, the center has managed, developed, and operated many notable missions, including the Cosmic Background Explorer, the Hubble Space Telescope, the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS), the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, and the Solar Dynamics Observatory.
Tara Melaine Ruttley is Associate Chief Scientist for Microgravity Research at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC. Prior to this, she was Associate Program Scientist for the International Space Station (ISS) at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Until 2007, she was lead hardware engineer for the ISS Health Maintenance System, leading a team of engineers whose job was to provide reliable medical equipment that kept astronauts healthy in orbit. She subsequently served as the lead hardware engineer for the ISS Human Research Facility. She served as an aquanaut on the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 6 crew in July 2004.
Frances "Poppy" Northcutt is an American engineer and attorney who began her career as a "computer", and was later a member of the technical staff of NASA's Apollo program during the Space Race. During the Apollo 8 mission, she became the first female engineer to work in NASA's Mission Control.
Vanessa E. Wyche is an American engineer and civil servant who is currently serving as the Director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC) since 2021. A NASA employee for over 30 years, Wyche served previously as both Deputy Director of JSC and Lead Engineer.
Carolyn Leach Huntoon is an American scientist and former government official. She was the director of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, a position which she held from 1994 to 1996, and was the first woman in the role. She was an assistant secretary at the Department of Energy from 1999 to 2001.
Catherine T. Osgood was an American aerospace engineer and one of the first few women to work at NASA. She is known for her work on spacecraft rendezvous for the Apollo lunar landing in 1969.
