A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mary Ross co-authored a NASA handbook on space travel

Hispanic Engineer & Information Technology >> Features >> A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mary Ross co-authored a NASA handbook on space travel

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Mary Ross co-authored a NASA handbook on space travel

 
POSTED ON Nov 22, 2023
 

November is Native American Heritage Month, and in celebration, NASA has highlighted the work of aerospace pioneer Mary G. Ross.

Ross was a mathematician and engineer who played a crucial role in America’s space age, but whose work is often overlooked. In 2018, Google Doodle honored her contributions on August 9.


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Born in 1908, Ross was a member of the Cherokee Nation and a Native American.

After obtaining a master’s degree in 1938, she moved to California in 1941, where she landed a job as a mathematician at Lockheed, working on the P-38 Lightning fighter plane.

Ross worked her way up the ranks at Lockheed and was the only woman on the original team of a secret R&D team at Lockheed Aircraft Corp.

As a mathematician and engineer, Ross wrote several professional and theoretical works, including a co-authorship of the NASA Planetary Flight Handbook Vol. III, which details space travel to Mars and Venus.

A member of the Cherokee Nation, Ross co-authored a NASA handbook on space travel that paved the way for missions to Mars and Venus.

The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian’s collection includes a portrait of Ross titled “Ad Astra per Astra,” painted by America Meredith.

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