World Space Week is an international celebration of science and technology for the betterment of humanity.

Moon Executive Search is exploring Space Week 2021, and the theme this year is ‘Women in Space’.

This article highlights some of amazing contributions by women leaders in the space exploration.

World Space Week aims to educate people on the benefits they receive from space, gain public support for space programmes and encourage the use of space for sustainable economic development.

The event begins on the 4th to commemorate the launch of the first human-made satellite (Sputnik 1) on October 4th 1957. It ends on the 10th to honour the signing of the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies on 10th October 1967.

This article highlights some of amazing contributions by women leaders in the space exploration.

Katharine Coleman Goble Johnson

Katharine Johnson was an African-American mathematician, whose work was instrumental in US space exploration. Her Wikipedia page states that:

‘During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks. The space agency noted her "historical role as one of the first African-American women to work as a NASA scientist".

In 2016 a book by Margot Lee Shetterly—Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race—drew attention to the contributions of Johnson and other West Computers, including Dorothy Vaughan (below).

Dorothy Vaughan

Dorothy Vaughan worked for NASA between 1943 and 1971. She was the Head of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics’ (NACA’s) segregated ‘West Area Computing Unit’ from 1949 until 1958. They provided data that were later essential to the success of the early U.S. space program.

Vaughan was both a respected mathematician and NASA's first African-American manager, as she was promoted to lead the West Computers in 1949.

ScientificWomen.net states that: ‘During her 28-year career, Vaughan prepared for the introduction of machine computers in the early 1960s by teaching herself and her staff the programming language of FORTRAN; she later headed the programming section of the Analysis and Computation Division (ACD) at Langley.’

Valentina Tereshkova

Her Wikipedia states:

‘She is the first and youngest woman to have flown in space with a solo mission on the Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963. She orbited the Earth 48 times, spent almost three days in space, and remains the only woman to have been on a solo space mission.’

Valentina was selected because she was accomplished parachutist, Tereshkova was well equipped to handle one of the most challenging procedures of a Vostok space flight: the mandatory ejection from the capsule at about 20,000 feet during reentry.

An incredible feat of human endeavour and an inspiration to the young girls of Russia and beyond.

Helen Sharman

Helen was the first Briton to go to Space in 1991. After responding to a radio advertisement asking for applicants to be the first British space explorer, Helen Sharman was selected for the mission live on ITV, on 25 November 1989, ahead of nearly 13,000 other applicants.

She attended a rigorous 18-month training programme at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia to prepare her for Project Juno and her time in space.

She says about the UK’s investment:

“Britain should be helping with that research. It’s expensive, but it’s important. And it’s good value. Space missions capture the imagination. It turns people on to science.”

Christina Koch

Christina’s remarkable career with NASA includes serving: ‘as flight engineer on the International Space Station for Expedition 59, 60 and 61. Koch set a record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman with a total of 328 days in space.​

Highlights from her missions include improvements to the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which studies dark matter, growing protein crystals for pharmaceutical research, and testing 3D biological printers to print tissues in microgravity.

She conducted six spacewalks, including the first three all women spacewalks, totalling 42 hours and 15 minutes. She has spent a total of 328 days in space.’

Her Twitter account is an excellent source of information and images of space.

These three are just some of the phenomenal women that have helped the exploration.

For a list of all the brave women that have taken to outer space, click here.