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Donna Shirley

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Donna Shirley
Born
Donna Pivorotta

1941
Pauls Valley, OK
Occupation(s)Aerospace and mechanical engineer, author
Known forFormer manager of theMars Exploration ProgramatNASA

Donna Lee Shirley(néeDonna Lee Pivorotta; born 1941) is a former manager ofMars Explorationat theNASAJet Propulsion Laboratory.She is the author of the bookManaging Martians: The Extraordinary Story of a Woman's Lifelong Quest to Get to Mars—and of the Team Behind the Space Robot That Has Captured the Imagination of the World.[1]

Asteroid5649 Donnashirleywas named in her honor.

Early life

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Shirley was born inPauls Valley, Oklahomaand grew up inWynnewood, Oklahoma.[2]As a young girl, Shirley was actively involved with herGirl Scoutstroop and played theoboe.Shirley was the only girl at her high school not to takehome economics.Instead, Shirley took mechanical drawing. Her interest in Mars and space exploration began when she readThe Sands of MarsbyArthur C. Clarke.She began taking flying lessons at age 15 and soloed at the Pauls Valley airport the next year.[3]She earned a pilot's license at 16.[4]During her senior year in high school, she was class vice president, band vice president, and valedictorian.[3]After graduating from college, Shirley took up skiing and hiking in California.

Education

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Donna Shirley enrolled in theUniversity of Oklahomaas an engineering student, despite the fact that her advisor told her that, "... Girls can't be engineers."[3]She also studied flying at the university, qualifying for pilot's licenses in single-engine land and sea, multi-engine land, commercial, and flight instructor.[3] During Shirley's junior year at theUniversity of Oklahoma,she became engaged and decided to change her degree to professional-writing in order to graduate faster. A short time later, Shirley and her fiancé split up. She went to work as a specification writer and an aerodynamicist forMcDonnell Aircraftin Saint Louis, Missouri for about a year and eventually decided to return to OU to complete her aerospace/mechanical engineering degree.[3][5]She graduated fromUniversity of Oklahomawith a BS in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering in 1965, and from theUniversity of Southern Californiawith a MS in Aerospace Engineering.[6]

Career

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She worked at theJet Propulsion Lab(JPL) from 1966 to 1998. When she joined JPL, she was the only woman among the 2,000 engineers who had an engineering degree. At NASA, she worked on a variety of projects and programs. She was a member of the team that designed a heat shield for a space vehicle that was destined to enter Mars' atmosphere. She served as mission analyst and later program manager for the Mariner 10 mission to Venus and Mercury. She led a research team studying aMars rover.She wasMars Exploration Programmanager,[7]and led teams forMars PathfinderandSojourner rover.[8]In 1997, she was inducted into the Women in Technology Hall of Fame, and in 1998 she was inducted into the Oklahoma Aviation and Space Hall of Fame.[3]In 1998, she received the Golden Plate Award of theAmerican Academy of Achievement.[9]Shirley officially retired as manager of the Mars Exploration Program on August 21, 1998.[10][11]

In 2000 she won theWashington Awardand in 2003 was inducted in theOklahoma Women's Hall of Fame.She was an associate dean of engineering for three years at theUniversity of Oklahomabetween 2000 and 2003. She then went on to be the founding director of theScience Fiction MuseuminSeattle.[citation needed]

Works

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  • Managing Creativity: A Practical Guide to Inventing, Developing and Producing Innovative Products.1997.;E-book
  • Managing Martians.Broadway Books.1998.ISBN9780767902403.;Random House Digital, Inc., 2010,ISBN9780307756831

References

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  1. ^"Neil B. Hutchinson Oral History".JSC Web Team. Archived fromthe originalon 2021-09-19.Retrieved2020-09-19.
  2. ^"Donna Shirley Biography".Academy of Achievement. Archived fromthe originalon 2014-07-02.Retrieved2014-06-02.
  3. ^abcdefMoore, Bill."Shirley, Donna L."Oklahoma Historical Society.Archived fromthe originalon 14 October 2017.Retrieved13 February2014.
  4. ^"Donna Shirley: Inventor of the Week".MIT.2002. Archived fromthe originalon 18 March 2003.Retrieved13 February2014.
  5. ^Nykolaiszyn, Juliana (March 14, 2011)."Oral history interview with Donna Shirley".Inductees of the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame Oral History Project.Retrieved1 August2022.
  6. ^"Misc Information For James Shirley Branch: Donna Lee Shirley".Shirleyassociation. 1997-07-04.Retrieved2014-06-02.
  7. ^"Mars Global Surveyor Arrival press kit"(PDF).NASA.September 1997. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2010-07-03.Retrieved2014-06-02.
  8. ^"Shirley, Donna L. (1941- )".Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture. Archived fromthe originalon 2017-10-14.Retrieved2014-06-02.
  9. ^"Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement".achievement.org.American Academy of Achievement.
  10. ^"Mars Exploration Program Manager Donna Shirley to Retire." Press Release by Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology and National Aeronautics and Space Administration. August 20,1998.Accessed February 28, 2016.
  11. ^"Mars Exploration Program Manager Donna Shirley to Retire".NASA/JPL.Retrieved2020-10-23.
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