Women (Sort of) On Mars!
Missed this one when it happened but someone (thanks, T.D.A.!) sent me a link to this article. Three months ago, over at NASA, an all-woman team guided the Mars Rovers.
WTF? How did I miss *that*?
Anyway, I’ve got mixed feelings about this article. On the one hand, it reports a momentous occasion and I’m very excited for the women involved. After all, they’ve got my dream job - hacking at stuff in space! At the bottom of the article, there’s a detailed list of all the team members, and just seeing a list long enough that I have to scroll through it gives me hope. This is the stuff I want to see! Show me more about the women who are working at JPL!
On the other hand, the “women drivers” bit is overplayed and annoying. Even though the author is trying to say that these women won’t tolerate that kind of BS, just mentioning it is tiresome.
Still: women guiding Rovers!
Over at the Planetary Society, there was a lengthier article about the event which is more informative (though I’ve got to mention that we should retire the phrase “Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves”), including a more precise explanation of what a tactical operations team does, and the roles of the scientists and engineers involved.
Check ‘em out, then drop me a line at ubergeeke@dotfiveone.com and let me know what you think.
Related posts:
- Selena Deckelmann: More Women In Open Source
- Pingdom on “Women In Open Source”
- Young Women & Their Robots
- Women Who Code Drink Beer!
- WomenInPhysics: Mars Lander And More
