May 16 – Remembering Nancy Roman

nPosted on May 16, 2019

Key points

nToday would have been Nancy Roman’s 94th birthday if she hadn’t died last Christmas Day. Still, this American astronomer lived a long and amazing life:

nAt age 11, Roman formed an astronomy club at school. They would get together once a week and learn about space and sky things – like constellations – from books.

nAt age 14 or 15, Roman knew she wanted to study astronomy. Almost everyone told her no, no she didn’t – but she hurtled through a four-year high-school program in just three years and went off to college.

As a young college student, Roman worked at Sprout Observatory while earning her B.A. in astronomy.

nShe worked at Yerkes Observatory while earning her PhD in astronomy.

Roman became the first chief of astronomy in NASA’s Office of Space Science. That means that she set up the program!

nRoman became the first woman to hold an executive position at NASA.

nRoman did a lot of good observational science, including comparing stars’ emission spectra; working in radio astronomy, microwave spectroscopy, and ultraviolet and x-ray observations of the sun; and overseeing the construction and use of satellites and orbiting astronomical observatories.

nShe contributed so much to the Hubble Space Telescope, Roman was often referred to as the “Mother of Hubble.”

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nIn high school, planning to study science at university and wanting to learn enough mathematics to make that possible, Nancy Roman had asked her high school guidance counselor if she could take Algebra 2 instead of Latin. The guidance counselor was a woman, but instead of supporting Roman, she made fun of her. “What kind of a lady would take mathematics instead of Latin?” she asked in a sneering tone.

nI’m not sure what Roman answered, but if she could only know her glittering future, she might have been able to answer something like this:

n“The kind of lady who wants an asteroid named in her honor.” (That happened.)

nOr, “The kind of woman who wins science awards AND has a technology fellowship named in her honor.” (That happened, too.)

Or even, “The kind of woman who wants to be represented as a LEGO figure in the Women of NASA set produced by LEGO!!!” (You can’t make this stuff up!)