Alice Bowman says she always wanted a career that was exciting, technically challenging "and not the same day in and day out."
She certainly found it. Whether it was the hard courses in school or the most puzzling technical challenges at work, Bowman has never shied away from the tougher path - but used these challenges to learn and gain new experience. Eventually, this led to the opportunity of a lifetime: leading the mission operations team that made history by "flying" the first spacecraft to Pluto.
Bowman, the New Horizons
mission operations manager, covers her career voyage through the
scope of NASA´s historic first mission to Pluto - which
culminated with a flyby of the distant dwarf planet on July 14,
2015. Starting with her childhood passion of absorbing and
following space news, she carried her love of science and
technology through college and into an early career that included
research on drug-delivery systems, crafting computer simulations
and working with infrared detectors that peered into the deepest
reaches of outer space. Those were among the experiences that
prepared her for the challenges of New Horizons: operating a
small robotic spacecraft that had to travel farther than any
mission ever to reach its main target; planning for (and dealing
with) long-distance technical hiccups; and keeping a team focused
over a decade-long operation across the solar system. Her advice
to the next generation of scientists and engineers includes:
choose a career that you have passion for; dont pass up an
opportunity because it?s outside of your comfort zone; explore
and learn about different things; know that hard work pays off;
and don?t be limited by your dreams.
Mais sobre Alice Bowman em
http://www.jhuapl.edu/employment/meet/bowman.asp
http://www.wired.com/2015/07/alive-new-horizons-survived-date-pluto/
O evento tem o apoio da Embaixada dos Estados Unidos da América em Portugal.
Fonte: ECUM
(Pub. Set/2015)