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.
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.
Wado to @NASA for celebrating Cherokee Nation citizen Mary Golda Ross during #NativeAmericanHeritageMonth! 🚀✨ https://t.co/PFIlLRMsKG
— Cherokee Nation (@CherokeeNation) November 21, 2023
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