Dr. Nancy Roman, Mother Of The Hubble Telescope, Passed Away At 93

On December 26^th, 2018, Dr. Nancy Roman, also known as the first woman to become a NASA’s first woman executive, passed away at the age of 93 and her contribution on the Hubble Space Telescope Program brought her another name: “Mother of the Hubble Telescope”.

According to NASA, what Roman did in her career showed the women’s increasing involvement in the scientific field. Since she was a child, Roman fell in love with the night sky and then, she decided to take part in an astronomy club at the age of 11.

To become a scientist, she had to face a lot of difficulties, as well as do many things to protect her right to get all-level STEM education.

The Voice of America unveiled that at her high school, Roman didn’t want to learn 5^th grade Latin and choose 2^nd algebra instead; however, when she asked her guidance teacher’s permission, she just got the disregard. The teacher said, “What lady would take mathematics instead of Latin?” And she was not the only one who showed this kind of thinking to Nancy Roman.

The Mother of the Hubble Telescope beat the misogyny and in 1949, received a doctorate in astronomy offered by the University of Chicago. After her graduation, she worked for the United States Naval Research Laboratory.

10 years later, in 1959, Roman became the first astronomer as a chief at NASA and worked for the organization in 20 years. She was famous for her achievement for NASA concerning the plans in the Hubble Telescope.

Launched in 1990, the Hubble Telescope has shown off a series of space images which were never seen before to the world. In her lifetime, she was devoted to struggle for the women’s rights to study and be welcomed in the math and science fields.

Also during this period, she always fought to bring science education to women in the world and especially, taught elementary children in astronomy classes.

Nancy Roman was not only honored as a Woman in Aerospace’s Lifetime Achievement Award but she also received Exceptional Scientific Achievement Award from NASA. Now, the world can remember her as a Woman of NASA via a 231-piece Lego figurine which was manufactured in 2017.