Women's ingenuity makes 2/23/08 special on Mars

William Atkins
Thursday, 13 March 2008 02:23

Science - Space

The Mars Exploration Rovers have been controlled, driven, and communicated with for over four years by both men and women on a daily basis. However to celebrate National Women’s History Month (March 2008) an all-woman’s team was in charge of the rover Spirit on February 23, 2008.       

Barbara Cohen, of the Marshall Space Flight Center, stated, “We were in control of Spirit's activities for the day. It was a milestone in mission planning to be able to staff the uplink team with all women."

Over twenty-four female engineers, scientists, technicians from around the United States took part in the all-women “Spirit Team.”

At the end of the cay, Cohen was asked she had noticed anything much different during the day?

She answered, “Not really. We've all been working in our roles for some time, and all the team members, both male and female, are very good at what they do. So we all just did our jobs. It's a big friendly group, so even the banter online was par for the course."

However, she did make an important comment that is very much worth noting. Cohen said, “Women in science are still very much underrepresented. It's a testament to the way the Mars Exploration Rover mission is run that we have brought so many women on board and we all feel comfortable."

She also added, "I think now it would be nearly impossible to have a spacecraft team with no women on it. The work that women have done on spacecraft, both now and before us, shows that we bring absolutely as much talent, knowledge, and teamwork to the table as men do."

Please read the full March 12, 2008 NASA article at “Women Drivers on Mars.”

Based on a resolution by the U.S. Congress, March is National Women’s History Month, a period of time each year “to recognize and celebrate achievements by American women.”

The website of the National Women’s History Project is found at "NWHP."

How did National Women's History Month get started. Please read on!