Astronomer Nancy Grace Roman was born OTD in 1925.
After early work in spectral classification and galactic evolution, she became NASA's first Chief of Astronomy and did foundational work planning and overseeing development of the Hubble Space Telescope.
It's no exaggeration to say that her work made the Hubble possible.
Images: NASA
Despite doing important work, Nancy Grace Roman left academia because she saw too many obstacles to a woman getting tenure as a research astronomer.
Instead, she worked at the Naval Research Laboratory, and then at NASA where she established the space astronomy program.
A few years ago, NASA decided the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (set to launch in themid-2020s) would be named the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, to honor her contributions to astronomy.
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-telescope-named-for-mother-of-hubble-nancy-grace-roman/
NASA is naming its next-generation space telescope currently under development, the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope (WFIRST), in honor of Nancy Grace Roman, NASA’s first chief astronomer, who paved the way for space telescopes focused on the broader universe.
Again, the Hubble Space Telescope was made possible by the work of Nancy Grace Roman. If you’ve ever marveled at a fantastic Hubble image, you have Nancy Grace Roman to thank for it.
Images: NASA / ESA / Hubble Heritage Team / STScI
Nancy Grace Roman passed away in 2018, on Christmas Day. Not too long before that she submitted a short memoir to Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
You can read the full thing here: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/full/10.1146/annurev-astro-091918-104446#_i3
Here is audio of Joss Bland-Hawthorn interviewing Nancy Grace Roman:
https://soundcloud.com/annualreviews/a-conversation-with-nancy-grace-roman
Nancy Grace Roman is interviewed by Joss Bland-Hawthorn for the Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics.
And here is a short video about Nancy Grace Roman and her work on the Hubble Space Telescope, from the European Space Agency's “Hubblecast”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=d636nHFOcRI&feature=youtu.be
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