The most famous women in NASA history

Talia LakritzJun 11, 2020, 19:45 IST

Jessica Meir and Christina Koch pose for a photo in the International Space Station.NASA/AP

Women have played crucial roles in NASA's history of space exploration.
Katherine Johnson calculated trajectories for the first man in space and Apollo 11's flight to the moon.
Peggy Whitson holds the US record for the most time spent in space at 665 days.
Jessica Meir and Christina Koch performed the first all-female spacewalk in NASA history.

Women have played crucial roles in advancing space exploration throughout NASA's 61 years, from performing calculations to sending astronauts to the moon to launching into space themselves as mission specialists and commanders.

Here are 17 women who became famous for their contributions to the science of space travel.

Kitty O'Brien Joyner was NASA's first female engineer.

Kitty O'Brien Joyner. Langley Research Center/NASA

Katherine Johnson calculated trajectories for Alan Shepard, John Glenn, and Apollo 11's flight to the moon.

Katherine Johnson. NASA

Dorothy Vaughan was NASA's first African American manager.

Dorothy Vaughan at NACA, which later became NASA. NASA

Mary Jackson was NASA's first black female engineer.

Mary Jackson at work. NASA Langley Research Center

Nancy Roman was known as the "Mother of Hubble."

Nancy Roman. NASA/Wikimedia Commons/Public Domain

Sally Ride was the first American woman to launch into space.

Sally Ride on the space shuttle Challenger in 1983. NASA

Anna Lee Fisher was the first mother to travel to space.

Anna Lee Fisher in 1979. NASA

Judith Resnik was the first Jewish person and second American woman to travel to space after Sally Ride.

Mission specialist Judith A Resnik sends a message to her father from on board the shuttle Discovery in 1984. NASA/Space Frontiers/Getty Images

Christa McAuliffe was supposed to be the first teacher in space, but tragically died in the Challenger explosion in 1986.

Christa McAuliffe training on a "zero gravity" aircraft nicknamed the "vomit comet." NASA

Kathryn Sullivan was the first American woman to walk in space.

Kathryn Sullivan using binoculars to view the Earth in 1984. NASA

Mae Jemison was the first African American woman in space.

Mae Jemison's official NASA portrait. Wikimedia Commons

Ellen Ochoa was NASA's first Hispanic female astronaut.

Ellen Ochoa's official NASA portrait. NASA

Eileen M. Collins became NASA's first female shuttle pilot and first female shuttle commander.

Eileen M. Collins on the ISS. NASA

Kalpana Chawla was the first Indian woman in space.

Kalpana Chawla's official NASA portrait. NASA

Peggy Whitson has spent more time in space than any US astronaut.

Peggy Whitson on the ISS. NASA via AP

Jessica Meir and Christina Koch performed the first all-female spacewalk in NASA's history.

Jessica Meir (left) and Christina Koch on the International Space Station. NASA/AP

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