MEET ANNIE EASLEY, THE WOMAN BEHIND THE CENTAUR ROCKET
Having a career in STEM can be difficult for a woman. Particularly, a woman of color. Even more precisely, a woman of color in 1955. But none of this stopped one of the pioneers of rocketry, space travel, and hybrid vehicles. We’re talking about Annie Easley, a woman who helped NASA before it existed, assisted in developing energy-conservation systems, provided some of the groundwork that would help hybrid vehicles, and paved the way for Black women in the workplace. This intelligent computer engineer would help develop calculations that assisted in making the Centaur rocket, a revolutionary development in rocketry, a reality. Her contributions would go on to help space travel and warfare throughout the course of history. More like this:How Hedy Lamarr Helped the Navy & Created WiFi in the Process
How Did Annie Easley Impact the World?
The facts about Annie Easley show that she didn’t just impact our world but also the galaxy. Thanks to her mathematics, the United States was able to develop its first high-energy upper-stage launch vehicle known as the Centaur upper-stage rocket. Long before the Jeff Bezoses, Elon Musks, and Richard Bransons of the world were multibillionaires with all the time in the world for a space race, getting to space was hard. Like really hard. To the point that people were thinking, “Hey, are you crazy? This has literally never been done before.” This is why Annie Easley’s contributions are so noteworthy. Because of her calculations, the U.S. government was able to create the technology that would send rockets into space by using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen.
It’s Not Rocket Science... Wait, Actually, It Is
- There was a power vacuum in Europe that would set up the Soviet Union to spread its influence using Communism.
- We figured out how to make entire cities go BOOM.
These events would set the stage for the Cold War, a war that we are still seeing the repercussions of in modern-day Europe and around the world. Part of the Cold War was rocketry and the Space Race. Both the Soviet and American governments were developing ways to get into space, with each looking to outdo the other. But again, getting to space is really, really hard. This is why the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was working so hard to make this a reality in the hopes that America could maintain superiority over the growing influence of the Soviet Union and Communism. NACA had just finished having rounding successes through its innovative technology used in WWII. So, the committee was a natural fit to help get Americans to space. Annie Easley, after attending Xavier University in New Orleans, would eventually read a story about a set of twin sisters working together as a “computer” for NACA. This inspired Easley to apply the next day. She was hired in the following weeks and would go on to become one of four Black workers in an organization of about 2,500 employees. Her mathematics while working at the NACA-Lewis-Flight-Propulsion-Laboratory-turned-NASA-Lewis-Research-Center made it possible for the Centaur rocket program to become a success.
Annie Easley Deserved Better
Vulcan Centaur rocket launch (which we're awaiting to see hopefully in 2022 or 2023), you’ll find that these realities existed/exist because of Easley. And yet... Despite her contributions to a number of research fields including mathematics, alternative energy, and environmental impact for a number of years... Despite her work to advocate and educate female workers and minorities to inspire STEM careers... Despite her own adversities in overcoming racism and sexism... Her flowers still came too late. Annie Easley was not only left out of promotional images from NASA but she also wasn’t inducted into the Glenn Research Hall of Fame in 2015, four years after she passed away. It’s because of this woman that space travel is possible. The John Glenns and Neil Armstrongs don’t get to become legends without the work of Annie Easley and others like her. A scholar, an athlete, and a scientist, Easley could do it all. We have computers today that are much different, but thank God we were blessed with a walking, living one in Annie Easley, a legend if there ever was one. Suggested read:All-Black Female 6888th Central Postal Battalion To Be Recognized