PRINCETON UNIVERSITY

Thanks to my Astronomy professor, the day after graduation in 1976 I had my one and only job interview. I was professional technical support in Princeton University’s Astrophysics Department on the Copernicus satellite project — a Hubble Space Telescope ancestor. I assisted astrophysicists from around the world in obtaining their satellite data.

During my time at Princeton, I became a dedicated space activist. Physicist Dr. Gerard K. O’Neil was gaining recognition and support from NASA for his “High Frontier” space colony concepts. Since his office was close to mine, I went over to discuss volunteer options. I attended on campus NASA events and a demonstration of a mass-driver as part of lunar mining.

Even though I knew I didn’t have a chance of being accepted, I applied to be a NASA astronaut in 1977 when applications were finally opened to women. I also pursued flying and earned my Private Pilot’s License in 1979. I could only afford local flights so I took a few aerobatics lessons to build my skills.

On July 20, 1979 I drove to Washington, D.C. to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. The crew appeared at the National Air and Space Museum where I managed snap this picture with my 35mm SLR camera.

In 1981, three Princeton co-workers and I drove almost 24 hours straight to Florida NASA-Kennedy Space Center. A bus tour took us astonishingly close to the vehicle on the launchpad. There was a delay but, two days later, we witnessed the historic first launch of the Space Shuttle on April 12! It was also the 20th anniversary of Yuri Gargarin — first human space.

I co-founded a local L-5 Society chapter based on O’Neill’s concepts. In 1983, I produced a cable television show about the new Space Shuttle program, calling on Princeton members of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space to assist me.

Sally Ride’s launch was on June 18, 1983. I drove alone to see the first American woman astronaut go to space! I was able to get into the Press section using my town’s cable TV station flyer. I caught the exciting launch with my bulky video camera and SLR. When I was a little girl and talked about my dreams of space, I was told: “Girls’ dreams don’t come true.”