:: NASA Quest > Women of NASA ::
:: NASA Quest > Women of NASA ::: "I was only 5 years old when I knew for certain that I wanted to be a scientist. I grew up in West Virginia, and my grandparents would always take me, my mother and my sister for weekly drives in the country. One day we drove to Greenbank, WV to the National Radio Observatory and I saw the original 300-foot radio dish. Surrounded by nearby mountains, the dish looked majestic and I became fascinated with it. When I asked my grandfather what it was for, he said that people use it to look at the sky during the day (!) to see stars and galaxies. I immediately knew that I wanted to do this too and I said with great determination 'I am going to use that telescope when I grow up!' Of course my family was amused at this, but I was committed. I knew in my heart that I would do it. Almost twenty years later as an astronomy graduate student at the University of Maryland, I was required to participate in a hands-on observing run with a member of the faculty. I jumped at the chance to go to Greenbank and soon found myself at the controls of the 300 foot telescope. It was so exciting to finally have achieved one of my dreams. I only wish that my grandfather had lived long enough to see it. Two weeks after my visit, on November 15 1988 at 9:43 pm, the telescope collapsed due to a failure in the structural support for the antenna. "
- posted by Jim @ 3:01 PM