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Women in Space Exploration
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First American woman to walk in space
Kathryn D. Sullivan - On October 11, 1984, she became the first American woman to walk in space during Space Shuttle Challenger mission STS-41-G.
First woman to command a Space Shuttle mission
Eileen Collins - In 1999, she became the first female commander of a Space Shuttle mission on STS-93, which deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory.
Played a key role in developing the propulsion system for Mars rover Curiosity
Ashwin Vasavada - As the project scientist for Mars Science Laboratory, she played a significant role in developing the rover Curiosity's propulsion system which enabled the precise landing on Mars.
First Canadian woman in space
Roberta Bondar - She flew on the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1992 on mission STS-42, conducting scientific experiments as part of the International Microgravity Laboratory.
First woman to spend over a year in space during a single mission
Christina Koch - She set the record for the longest continuous time in space by a woman with a total of 328 days on the International Space Station during the 2019-2020 Expedition 61 and 62.
First woman to command the International Space Station
Peggy Whitson - She was the first woman to command the International Space Station in 2008 and again in 2017, with a distinguished career that includes several spaceflight records.
Co-inventor of the space bumper shielding
Taylor Wang - She co-invented the shuttle-borne space bumper known as the 'Whipple shield', which has been used to protect spacecraft from impacts of micrometeoroids and space debris.
Designed possible mission trajectories for the New Horizons mission to Pluto
Yanping Guo - She is an aerospace engineer at Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory who formulated possible mission trajectories for the New Horizons spacecraft en route to Pluto.
Developed the software for the first portable life support system
Ann K. McClain - Prior to becoming an astronaut, she was a test pilot and engineer who developed the software for the first portable life support system backpacks that are worn during spacewalks.
High-energy astrophysicist who discovered pulsars
Jocelyn Bell Burnell - As a graduate student, she discovered the first radio pulsars in 1967, which provided new insights into the understanding of neutron stars.
First woman to fly on a Space Shuttle
Sally Ride - In 1983, she became the first American woman in space as a crew member on Space Shuttle Challenger for STS-7.
Contributed to the discovery of dark matter in the Universe
Vera Rubin - She provided crucial data on the rotation of spiral galaxies, which led to the confirmation of the existence of dark matter.
Proposed the heliophysics concept of 'solar wind'
Dr. Eugene Parker - A theoretical astrophysicist, Parker proposed the existence of the solar wind in 1958. While not a woman, his contributions are seminal in the field of heliophysics.
An astronomer who confirmed the presence of a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way
Andrea Ghez - By studying the motions of stars near the center of our galaxy, her work provided the best evidence of the existence of Sagittarius A*, the Milky Way's central supermassive black hole.
Managed and operated the Hubble Space Telescope
Kathryn C. Thornton - As a NASA astronaut with several Space Shuttle flights, she has conducted multiple spacewalks to service the Hubble Space Telescope, including installing new instruments and repairing various components.
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