Reach for the Stars trail

Girl s Nig Ou ht t!

Reach for the stars!

1.

Valentina Tereshkova Cosmonaut

Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman to fly in space in 1963 when she launched on the Soviet Vostok 6 mission. Valentina became interested in parachute jumping at an early age and it was her expertise in parachute jumping that led to her selection as a cosmonaut.

Girl s Nig Ou ht t!

Reach for the stars!

2.

Katherine Johnson Mathematician

Katherine Johnson was crucial in sending US astronauts to the Moon. Her calculations and analysis also helped sync the Lunar Lander and Moon-orbiting Command Module, and she worked on the Space Shuttle programme.

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Reach for the stars!

3.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock Mechanical Engineer

Maggie Aderin-Pocock’s work includes developing scientific instruments for telescopes and satellites, along with presenting The Sky at Night on the BBC.

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Reach for the stars!

4.

Helen Sharman

Astronaut and Chemist

In 1991, Helen Sharman became the first British astronaut. Sharman travelled to the Mir space station where she carried out experiments to do with medicine and plant growing. Before becoming an astronaut, Helen researched the chemistry of chocolate for the Mars company!

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5.

Mary Almond Physicist

In 1947, during her degree, Mary Almond joined a team of volunteers at Jodrell Bank Observatory; she was the only woman. She went on to study for a PhD on detecting meteors using radar systems and became one of the first computer science lecturers in the UK.

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6.

Julia Tizard

Commercial Spaceflight

Julia Tizard has an astrophysics degree and PhD from the University of Manchester.

She is Vice President of Virgin Galactic, a commercial spacecraft company.

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7.

Aglaonice

Astronomer

Aglaonice’s observations of the Grecian night sky in the first or second century BCE enabled her to predict movements of the Moon, including lunar eclipses. Some thought she was a sorceress or a witch and she may have encouraged these ideas to boost her reputation.

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8.

Adriana Ocampo

Planetary geologist

Adriana Ocampo is the Science Programme Manager at NASA. Her research led to the discovery of a huge crater created by a meteorite 65 million years ago.

This impact led to the extinction of dinosaurs.

She is also lead scientist on space missions to explore Pluto, Jupiter and Venus.

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9.

Nergis Mavalvala Astrophysicist

Nergis Mavalvala’s work helped to detect gravitational waves for the very first time.

Gravitational waves are ripples in the fabric of space-time and had been predicted by Albert Einstein’s 1915 General Theory of Relativity.

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10.

Ritu Karidhal

Rocket Scientist

Ritu Karidhal played a lead role in India’s Mars Orbiter Mission, Mangalyaan, which made India the 4th country to reach Mars.

She is now working on Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon.