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[Music throughout] Nancy Grace Roman [1925-2018]: It’s hard to decide how history will view my accomplishments.

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People generally aren’t terribly interested

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in what gets things started, and so I’m not sure

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they're going to have much of an idea of my role.

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Narrator: Nancy Grace Roman served as the first Chief of Astronomy in NASA’s Office of

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Space Science — the first woman to hold and executive position

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with the agency. She was instrumental in the early

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planning of NASA’s first great space observatory — the Hubble Space Telescope —

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earning her the nickname “the mother of Hubble.”

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To honor her, NASA has given her name to one of its most

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powerful upcoming space observatories. WFIRST,

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the Wide Field Infrared Survey Telescope is now the

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Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

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Nancy Grace was born in 1925 and developed an interest in astronomy

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at an early age. Nancy Grace: I just was fascinated.

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Between 5th and 6th grade I organized my

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friends into an astronomy club to study the constellations!

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I certainly did not receive any encouragement.

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I was told from the beginning that women could not

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be scientists. Narrator: Nancy Grace persevered

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and graduated from the University of Chicago in 1949 with a

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doctorate in astronomy, despite continuing to encounter discrimination.

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Nancy Grace: My thesis professor, there was a period in which he went

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for six months without speaking to me even when I said hello to him in the hall.

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He didn’t want to have anything to do with me.

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Narrator: After several years of research, NASA came calling.

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Nancy Grace: I started at NASA in 1959. It was

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six months old. Being the first executive woman at NASA

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turned out not to be terribly eventful.

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I was accepted very readily as a

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scientist and in my job. Narrator: During her 21 years at NASA,

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Dr. Roman was involved in the development and launch of many

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space-based observatories, which studied the Sun, deep space and

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the Earth’s atmosphere. Her most enduring legacy at NASA

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was the planning of Hubble and its science program. She did much of the early

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advocacy and established the program structure, which laid the foundation for

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other large NASA missions that followed, and helped convince the

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astronomical community to support astronomy from space. After retiring

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from NASA, Dr. Roman stayed involved in the space community, and

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received numerous awards for her pioneering work.

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Over her career, she inspired generations of young astronomers.

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Now, with the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope,

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her legacy can continue to inspire generations more.

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Explore: solar system & beyond

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NASA