“On the aeronautics side, we develop and test electric aircraft propulsion.
Back in the day, we were talking about electric cars. Now we’re doing the same
electric aircraft propulsion for airplanes,” Pérez-Davis explains. “So, we are
working on the technologies that are going to fulfill that mission.”
A true leader, Pérez-Davis received numerous awards including the NASA
Outstanding Leadership Medal and the prestigious Presidential Rank Award
for Meritorious Executives.
“We do the impossible. We go and explore other planets and go
into deep space,” Pérez-Davis shares. “We tackle these big challenges by
working together.”
“I can tell that I make an impact when I hear back from teachers about
how one of our NASA lessons helped students get excited about science,”
Taylor says. “My work is to inspire through NASA.”
Taylor — who spent childhood summers in Mexico — served as Chair
for the International Education Working Group at the GLOBE Program,
on various NASA committees and co-developed training for science
communication experts.
This culminated in her 2016 invitation by the White House Council
for Women and Girls in STEM Working Group to lead a role model
train-the-trainer program.
“I’ve been given this opportunity to be a mentor to students, and girls
and girls of color in particular, and get a chance to speak about diversity
and inclusion,” Taylor shares. “It wasn’t until NASA that I was able to dive
into this.”
Jessica Taylor
Physical Scientist
NASA Langley Research Center
Jessica Taylor grew up just outside of Tampa, Florida, the “lightning
capital of the world.” She had witnessed countless thunderstorms by the
time she got to high school and always thought of them as beautiful. But
it wasn’t until a teacher assigned her research on lightning that she discovered
even scientists had more to learn about it. That fascination led her to pursue
a degree in meteorology and eventually become a Physical Scientist at NASA
Langley Research Center.
Taylor serves as lead of the Science Education Team and as Principal
Investigator for GLOBE Clouds and My NASA Data. She coordinates an
interdisciplinary team of educators, scientists, technology experts and
communications specialists who collaborate with the education community to
bring real-world Earth science practices and data to students.
“These two programs have a common element of trying to engage
learners of all ages with science and particularly NASA science.,” Taylor
explains. “Our aim is to engage people from all walks of life and ages.”
The GLOBE Clouds team engages students and the public in
NASA-relevant science in 125 countries. In 2020, over 270,000 observations
of clouds and sky conditions were documented and submitted through GLOBE’s
worldwide database.
Dr. Dionne M. Hernández-Lugo
Project Manager, Fission Surface Power
NASA’s Glenn Research Center
Landing humans on the Red Planet is a tremendous endeavor that is
impossible without energy. Energy is essential to creating oxygen,
providing heat and light, establishing communication and so much
more. That’s where Dr. Dionne M. Hernández-Lugo, Project Manager for
Fission Surface Power at NASA’s Glenn Research Center, comes in. She is on
a mission to create energy systems that astronauts need to live and work on
the moon and the Red Planet.
“These missions require a power system. It’s like the equivalent of a power
plant here on earth. We’re trying to develop a small nuclear power plant that
will be a constant source of power during the duration of the mission,” says Dr.
Hernández-Lugo. “I lead a team of engineers at NASA and the Department of
Energy to develop a flight system of a 10kW-electric fission surface power
system. Once built, the goal is to demonstrate the system on the Moon.”
The team hopes to have the system developed by the late 2020s which
will allow astronauts to utilize innovative technologies to explore more of the
lunar surface than has ever been possible. Part of the Artemis program’s goal
is to land the first woman and the first person of color on the Moon. NASA,
along with its commercial and international partners, will use the moon as a
proving ground to demonstrate new technologies and then use its findings to
send astronauts to Mars.
18 www.latinastyle.com LATINAStyle V ol. 27, No. 3, 2021
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