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NASA News

Nancy Grace Roman, 'Mother Of Hubble' Space Telescope, Has Died, At Age 93 (npr.org) 65

Russell Lewis, writing for NPR: When Nancy Grace Roman was a child, her favorite object to draw was the moon. Her mother used to take her on walks under the nighttime sky and show her constellations, or point out the colorful swirls of the aurora. Roman loved to look up at the stars and imagine. Eventually, her passion for stargazing blossomed into a career as a renowned astronomer. Roman was one of the first female executives at NASA, where she served as the agency's first chief of astronomy. Known as the "Mother of Hubble," for her role in making the Hubble Space Telescope a reality, Roman worked at NASA for nearly two decades. She died on Dec. 25 at the age of 93.

Roman fought to earn her place in a field dominated by men, paving the path for future female scientists. She was born in Nashville, Tenn. in 1925 and organized an astronomy club in fifth grade. She attended high school in Baltimore, where she requested to take a second year of algebra instead of a fifth year of Latin. When she made the appeal, she recounted in a 2017 interview with NPR that the guidance counselor wasn't supportive of her dream to become a scientist.

Her efforts helped lead to the creation of the Hubble Space Telescope. In her role at NASA, Roman developed and planned the Hubble Space Telescope, which is famous for its stunning images of space. Because of the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists have been able to collect data and gain insight into even the most remote galaxies of the universe. The success of the project led to future space telescopes. Roman's work, however, reached far beyond just the Hubble Space Telescope. In an interview with NASA, Roman once stated that one of the highlights of her career was when she discovered the first indication that common stars were not all the same age.

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Nancy Grace Roman, 'Mother Of Hubble' Space Telescope, Has Died, At Age 93

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  • by jellomizer ( 103300 ) on Monday December 31, 2018 @10:14AM (#57883810)

    Unfortunately there are so many stories like hers, where some one aspires to be more then what society says they can be. Makes me wonder, without all that extra luggage how much further could they have became.

    • by twdorris ( 29395 ) on Monday December 31, 2018 @10:51AM (#57884016)

      Makes me wonder, without all that extra luggage how much further could they have became.

      I firmly believe that this "extra luggage" often contributes to the greatness that unfolds. For someone that has a true passion and interest, these hurdles often seem to me like motivating factors pushing that person to achieve more than they might have if those same achievements had just been "expected" of them.

      I think most would agree that you're more likely to pour your heart and soul into a achieving a goal if there's a little resistance along the way...someone else saying you can't do that or simply the fact that you're the first to do it...just *something* that can sweeten the pot a little or act as that little grain of irritating sand needed to make that really big, shiny pearl at the end.

    • I suspect that it doesn't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things. Keep in mind that the vast, vast majority of men didn't become NASA engineers, great scientists, or really anything of particular note either. I don't know to what extent adversity is a necessary component in forging greatness, but I think most people will admit that you don't get good at solving incredibly large problems without having to persevere against smaller ones along the way.

      We're also familiar with the idea of partici
  • by opentunings ( 851734 ) on Monday December 31, 2018 @10:23AM (#57883872)
    I had the pleasure of interning with Nancy Roman's staff back in the '70's. She was always good with her staff, always approachable, even for a peon like myself. RIP Nancy, it was a pleasure to work for you.
  • by Dunbal ( 464142 ) * on Monday December 31, 2018 @10:38AM (#57883952)
    There can't be that many Nancy Graces around, why does the Angel of Death keep taking the wrong one?
    • There's an ongoing battle between heaven and hell over which is going to get stuck with her. I don't know how it will turn out, but I can tell you that hell has a far better legal team.
    • Satan has a backlog of work orders and still needs to forge a steel muzzle for the other one.
    • Well maybe it’s not an angel.
    • There can't be that many Nancy Graces around, why does the Angel of Death keep taking the wrong one?

      Mods - do your thing, and I do mean +5

  • by Anonymous Coward

    to a story about their genitalia.

    • Well that and you know a giant fucking space telescope.

      Who modded this shit up?

      • by ahto ( 108308 )

        No matter how wild a claim about "SJW" or liberals, any demand for evidence will be met with downmods.

        I don't consider myself any kind of warrior, but how's that for evidence: http://www.stsci.edu/news/news... [stsci.edu]?

        • I don't consider myself any kind of warrior, but how's that for evidence: http://www.stsci.edu/news/news [stsci.edu]...?

          I don't follow. Evidence of what? My contention here is that it's more or less reached the point where some AC will post "liberals ate my baby" and be modded +5 informative and the inevitable "sounds like bullshit, got a link" post will get -1 troll.

          • by ahto ( 108308 )
            The evidence that this time reference to a gender in relation to her achievements is relevant. When the project application reviews for Hubble switched to double-blind (where the reviewers only see the content of the proposed research, but not the identities of the proposers), the success rate of female-led applications went from being roughly half of that of male-led applications to being roughly the same (actually a bit more).
  • by v1 ( 525388 ) on Monday December 31, 2018 @01:10PM (#57884664) Homepage Journal

    she requested to take a second year of algebra instead of a fifth year of Latin. When she made the appeal, she recounted in a 2017 interview with NPR that the guidance counselor wasn't supportive of her dream to become a scientist.

    I don't understand what teachers or councilors like that are thinking. School is to prepare you for adulthood, help you find your direction in life, and give you skills that will get you employment when you graduate. What on earth is FIVE years of latin going to get you? Sure there's a few niche jobs that it'd be useful in - clergy, archeology, maybe museum... but MATH, that will open hundreds of doors for you.

    • Don't forget that she was probably in high school in the late 1930's / early 1940's (bio says she was 93 years old). Thanks to people like her, twisting counselors' arms in the 1930's, the question is not "I don't understand what teachers or councilors like that *are* thinking". The question is "what teachers or councilors like that *were* thinking". Remember, having women working in auto and airplane production was a huge cultural leap. Women in science? Practically undheard of.

      I haven't had business

      • by v1 ( 525388 )

        Don't forget that she was probably in high school in the late 1930's / early 1940's (bio says she was 93 years old).

        It held on a lot longer than that. My mother was born in 1953, and SHE also for some reason decided to get on board the Latin Train. (yes, again with FIVE years of it...) On the plus side, you can ask her what pretty much any word means and she can get you started in the general direction by ripping it apart, regardless of how many syllables it has. (actually, the more, the better)

        So for her

    • Latin was supposed to teach you to follow logical rule systems.

      Because an exception filled illogical ('Sailor' is neuter, lost his balls in the war) grammatical system is logical by the standards of the humanities.

      It wasn't that long ago that 4 years of latin and 2 of classical greek were required for college admission. It was a weedout, keep out the riff raff whose HS didn't teach the subjects.

    • she requested to take a second year of algebra instead of a fifth year of Latin. When she made the appeal, she recounted in a 2017 interview with NPR that the guidance counselor wasn't supportive of her dream to become a scientist.

      I don't understand what teachers or councilors like that are thinking

      [...]

      but, But, BUT, she was a only a girl!!! :-)

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