Nancy Roman

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Nancy Roman with the model of an Orbiting Solar Observatory (1962)

Nancy Grace Roman (* 16th May 1925 in Nashville , Tennessee ; † 25. December 2018 ) was an American astronomer and the first Chief of Astronomy and Relativity Programs of NASA . Since she was instrumental in the planning for the Hubble Space Telescope , she is often referred to as Hubble's mother (English: Mother of Hubble ).

Life

Youth and education

Nancy Roman was the only child of geophysicist Irwin Roman and teacher Georgia Frances Smith. In an interview, she described her parents as her greatest inspiration as they showed her nature and answered scientific questions from an early age. At the age of four she was already fascinated by the moon and when she was eleven when she lived in Reno , Nevada , she organized an astronomy club for her friends where they learned the constellations. In 1937 the family moved to Baltimore , Maryland , where they attended high school. In the seventh grade it was clear to Roman that she wanted to become an astronomer, although women were advised against careers in the natural sciences at the time.

“I still remember asking my counseling teacher in high school for permission to take a second year of algebra instead of a fifth year of Latin . She looked down at me and mocked, 'Which lady would choose math over Latin?' I got that kind of encouragement most of the time. "

Roman also had to deal with incomprehension and discouragement during her studies at Swarthmore College . According to her information, the dean actively tried to dissuade all students from obtaining a degree as a scientist or engineer. It was only during her third year of college that she received some encouragement from the physics faculty chair, who said, "I usually try to talk women out of doing a Masters in Physics, but I think you might be able to do it." the Graduate School that she should "just go off and get married," she acquired the in 1949 doctorate in astronomy at the University of Chicago .

Career

From 1949 to 1955 Roman worked as a lecturer at the university and in research at the Yerkes Observatory . During this time she realized that sun-like stars, which have heavy elements, move almost circularly around the center of the galaxy and near the galaxy plane, while stars with lighter elements further away from the galaxy plane move elliptical orbits around the center. She also found that stars with the same composition can be of different ages. This allowed the first conclusions to be drawn about the evolution of the Milky Way. In the course of her research on the composition of stars and their distribution in the Milky Way, she noticed the star BD + 67 922 , now known as AG Draconis . Allegedly it should be similar to the sun, but its emission spectrum differed significantly from that of the sun. After a thorough analysis, Roman published her observations in The Astrophysical Journal .

Since it was still very difficult for women to get permanent positions in research, Roman accepted an offer from the Naval Research Laboratory in 1955 in the field of radio astronomy, which was still very new . There Roman u. a. a map of the galaxy measuring 67 centimeters. She also took part in radar measurements, which helped to determine the distance between the earth and the moon more precisely. In 1956 she received an invitation to travel to Armenia , then part of the Soviet Union , to inaugurate an observatory . As it turned out, the new director had read her publication on BD + 67 922 and therefore invited her. Upon her return, she gave a series of lectures about her journey as well as lectures on astronomy, which is what made her name famous.

Nancy Roman (3rd from left) with President John F. Kennedy at the 1962 Federal Woman's Award ceremony

When NASA was founded, many scientists from the Naval Research Laboratory were taken over by it. When Roman was attending a lecture on the origin of the moon, her former colleague Jack Clark asked if she knew anyone who wanted to set up a space astronomy department at NASA. Since the project appealed to her, she accepted the position herself and thus became the first Chief of Astronomy and Relativity Programs , so she was one of the first women ever to get a leadership position at NASA.

Under her leadership, the Orbiting Solar Observatory -1 was developed and launched into space in March 1962. The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 3 as well as the International Ultraviolet Explorer ( IUE for short ) and the Infrared Astronomical Satellite also emerged from their program. All in all, her program was responsible for balloons, sounding rockets and 20 satellites. In addition, she prepared astronauts for astronomical features during their mission in space, including the crew of Apollo 11 and all three crews of Skylab .

From the beginning, Roman strongly supported Lyman Spitzer's idea of ​​a space telescope. Together with astronomers from all over the country and some engineers from NASA, she formed a committee to discuss such a project. In doing so, she took into account both the ideas of the scientists and the technical possibilities until a feasible concept for the later Hubble space telescope , which was launched into space in 1990, was determined. One of her successors, Dr. Edward Weiler, she was nicknamed "Hubble's mother" for her commitment on the grounds:

“Unfortunately, in the age of the internet, history has forgotten a lot, but in the old days before the internet, before Google, email and all that, it was Nancy who actually helped market the Hubble Space Telescope to astronomers organize and finally convince the Congress to finance it. "

Despite this association with Hubble, Roman always cited the International Ultraviolet Explorer as her greatest pride. The Hubble Space Telescope, according to Roman, would have been created without them, just possibly differently and at a different point in time. The IUE, on the other hand, would not have come about without it:

“I think I'm so incredibly proud of it because I had to work really hard on this project. The astronomical community wouldn't have rallied if it hadn't flown, it wasn't clear enough for that. X-ray astronomy in particular , which was much more politically influential at the time than the optical and ultraviolet communities, was strictly against it because they felt it was taking away their money. "

In 1979, Roman had to look after her now-old mother and accepted NASA's offer to retire early at the age of 54. However, she was looking for a part-time job and, after taking a course in Fortran , became a consultant at ORI, Inc. from 1980 to 1988 , and later at McDonnell Douglas , which had contracts with the Goddard Space Flight Center . After all, she worked for the Goddard Space Flight Center herself, of which she became director in 1995. From 1998 onwards, Roman devoted himself increasingly to voluntary and social activities. She read astronomical books to people with reading difficulties and blind people, worked with school classes and sent scientists and engineers to schools in poor areas. She also gave lectures and always encouraged young women to take up scientific professions.

Awards and recognitions

Nancy Roman with Dr. Edward Weiler at the Women in Aerospace Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony in 2010
  • 1962: Federal Woman's Award
  • 1969: Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal from NASA
  • 1980: William Randolph Lovelace II Award from the American Astronaut Association
  • 2010: Lifetime Achievement Award from Women in Aerospace
  • 2020: Renaming of the WFIRST space telescope project to Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope

Roman received the honorary doctorate for the Russell Sage College , the Hood College, Bates College and the Swarthmore College . The asteroid (2516) Roman was named after her in 1985 . The Nancy Grace Roman Technology Fellowship in Astrophysics NASA is named after her. The latter is a program to promote new technologies for space exploration and astrophysics. In 2017, Lego also brought out a series of "NASA women" that u. a. Characters from Nancy Roman, Margaret Hamilton , Mae Jemison, and Sally Ride included and which immediately became popular.

Publications

  • 1949: The Ursa Major Group (PhD thesis) in the Astrophysical Journal , Issue 110
  • 1953: The Spectrum of BD + 67 ° 922 in the Astrophysical Journal, issue 117
  • 1955: A Catalog of High-Velocity Stars in the Astrophysical Journal Supplement, Issue 2
  • 1958: (Ed.), Comparison of large-scale structure of the galactic system with that of other stellar systems , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
  • 1959: Planets of Other Suns in the Astronomical Journal , issue 64
  • 1987: Identification of a Constellation from a Position in Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific , Issue 99

literature

  • Heather E. Schwartz: NASA astronomer Nancy Grace Roman . STEM Trailblazer Bios 2018, ISBN 1-54-151212-X
  • Mabel Armstrong: Women Astronomers: Reaching for the Stars . Stone Pine Press 2008, ISBN 0-97-289295-8

Web links

Commons : Nancy Roman  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Nancy Roman: Astronomer (Retired). In: NASA.gov. September 9, 2015, accessed December 29, 2018 .
  2. ↑ a b c Mother of Hubble Always Aimed for Stars. In: Voa News . August 14, 2011, accessed December 29, 2018 .
  3. ^ A b c Nancy Grace Roman: Following my lucky star. In: Science. December 9, 2016, accessed December 29, 2018 .
  4. ↑ a b c d e Nancy Grace Roman: Nancy Roman: An Astronomer's Life. (pdf, 894 kB) In: Astronomy Beat, 112 June 11, 2013, accessed on December 29, 2018 (English).
  5. ^ Rebecca Wright: Nancy Grace Roman interviewed. (pdf, 166 kB) In: NASA Oral History Project. September 15, 2000, accessed December 29, 2018 .
  6. ^ A b c Edward S. Goldstein: NASA's Innovators and Unsung Heroes - Nancy G. Roman: Pioneer of NASA's Space Astronomy Program. In: NASA.gov. September 17, 2008, accessed November 18, 2017 .
  7. ^ NASA Leaders Receive Awards From Women in Aerospace. In: NASA.gov. October 27, 2010, accessed November 18, 2017 .
  8. ↑ NASA Telescope Named For 'Mother of Hubble' Nancy Grace Roman . NASA, May 20, 2020.
  9. ↑ NASA Names Astrophysics Fellowship For Iconic Woman Astronomer. In: NASA.gov. August 30, 2011, accessed November 18, 2017 .
  10. ↑ Dave Mosher: Lego's 'Women of NASA' toy set is finally on sale - and it's already Amazon's best-selling toy. In: Business Insider. November 3, 2017, accessed December 29, 2018 .
personal data
SURNAME Roman, Nancy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Novel, Nancy Grace
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronomer
DATE OF BIRTH May 16, 1925
PLACE OF BIRTH Nashville , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH December 25, 2018