Why Space?

We are going back to the moon on a mission named after the Greek goddess Artemis. It will be one giant step for the first woman on the moon and the first person of color ― and one giant leap for humankind!

Space is expanding ― literally and figuratively. Data science and machine learning technologies have exponentially expanded our knowledge of the cosmos. We see faraway galaxies in our rapidly expanding universe using infrared technologies, and we’re searching for signatures of life on exoplanets with the recently deployed James Webb space-based telescope.

Over the next few decades, the global space marketplace is expanding to the tune of an estimated trillion dollars. Disruptive innovations ― like commercialization of the space industry and broader participation of emerging space nations ― have shifted the frontiers of regular ole’ space toward the freshly labeled New Space economy.

Our perspectives of home planet Earth have expanded. Satellites facilitate global navigation and telecommunication services, while the latest ChipSat fleets are addressing critical global challenges ― from safeguarding agricultural yields and wildlife habitats, to monitoring air quality and water reservoirs, to halting deforestation, overfishing and human rights abuses.

Space offers an expanded perspective of ourselves and our place within the cosmos. Astronauts have boldly reached for the stars, and in the process they become deeply humbled by the view of our delicate home planet thriving in the expanse of space. Instead of see national boundaries, they comprehend a world of connections. Looking beyond our tiny blue dot into the vast cosmos, space is the perfect place where we Earthlings can ponder how to shape a better world for tomorrow.

Why Women in Space?

Fly us to the moon and let us play among the stars, and let’s break that glass ceiling on the way to Jupiter and Mars because the percentage of women working in space has hovered around 20% over the past 30 years!

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) reports that globally women make up only 11% of astronauts, 20% of space industry workers, and 29% of researchers, scientists and engineers. Another UNOOSA study reveals that tween girls are interested in STEM subjects, but become discouraged as teenagers citing too few STEM experiences and too few female role models. Women working in the space sector today acknowledge that female mentors and role models ― both real and fictional ― have contributed to their sustained interests space science and exploration as a young person.

NASA astrophysicist Elisa Quintana was a disinterested C student in calculus and physics at her local college. When she transferred to UC San Diego and Sally Ride became her academic adviser, Quintana admits she was starstruck having gone from no role models in math and science to having the ultimate role model: America’s first women in space. Astronaut Mae Jemison, the first Black woman in space, has revealed that as a young girl her only accessible role model was the 1960s fictional TV character, Lieutenant Uhura, who aboard Star Trek’s Starship Enterprise boldly reached for the stars where no Black woman had gone before. 

Addressing the United Nations SETI scientist Nathalie Cabrol stressed that women “want to see the development of a culture of commitment to protecting vulnerable people at all levels of science.” She noted that solutions for mitigating biases and improving equity are complex, yet they can be “encapsulated in a few words: nurture, support, empower and protect at all stages of education and career.”