• 6 min read The Sky Belongs to All of Us Alicia Cermak How did a little girl born in India soon after its independence from the British Empire, become a program scientist for NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, and the first female program scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope, Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA), Gravity Probe B, and other astrophysics flight missions? • The story starts in October 1957, when I was 7 years old, and my grandmother ordered the entire family, including my 3-year-old sister, all the servants and their families, to collect at dawn in the backyard of the home and watch Sputnik pass by the clear night skies of Lucknow. • That morning, as I saw Sputnik and the dark, starry sky, I dreamt the impossible dream that one day I would be a space scientist. • The path was not easy. • With determination and encouragement from my mother and school teachers, I forged ahead, won a scholarship to the University of Oxford, from where I earned a doctorate in theoretical nuclear physics in 1976. • The path to a traditional academic career for a female scientist was fraught with challenges, exacerbated by social pressures.
Article Summaries:
- Hashima Hasan is a highly accredited NASA program scientist and the first female program scientist for the James Webb Space Telescope. Read her inspirational journey and career highlights from NASA ! The story starts in October 1957, when I was 7 years old, and my grandmother ordered the entire family, including my 3-year-old sister, all the servants and their families, to collect at dawn in the backyard of the home and watch Sputnik pass by the clear night skies of Lucknow. That morning, as I saw Sputnik and the dark, starry sky, I dreamt the impossible dream that one day I would be a space s
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