A New Generation Space Telescope: Interview with One of NASA’s Own Woman Engineers

Published in Horace Mann Spectrum Magazine in May, 2018.

Apollo 11. Explorer 6. International Space Station. Hubble Telescope. What do all of these names have in common? They are all projects that NASA has completed or taken part in. Now, it has another project to add to its repertoire. The James Webb is a new telescope that is scheduled to be launched on March 30th, 2021. The international collaboration among NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency will be to build the largest telescope ever launched into space, and 100 times more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Telescope.

I was fortunate enough to be able to interview Ratnabali Day, a very inspiring woman test engineer who has worked on the Hubble Telescope for many years and is now working on the James Webb Telescope at NASA. Day was born in India, and from a very young age was interested in space. It was her school there and especially her father who encouraged her to take interest in science and read and learn about the many space exploration projects that were taking place during her childhood. She majored in Physics and has a degree in Computer Science as well as in Technical Management. Day has worked alongside famous astronauts such as Mike Foale and renowned scientists such as Dr. John Mather, a Nobel Laureate for the Cosmic Background Explorer project.

James Webb Telescope model and the NASA team.

(photo credits: NASA)

Jiya: It is uncommon to hear of a woman engineer at NASA. Tell us about how it felt being a young woman engineer from India when you first joined NASA in the 1980s.

Ratnabali: I studied Physics in India. After I came to the USA, I studied Computer Science. First, I worked at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration). It was a very interesting job - monitoring images from geostationary and polar orbiting satellites. These weather satellites send us data to help us forecast the weather. I got an offer two years later from Hughes Aerospace to work for the Hubble Space Telescope project at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. I was fortunate as they were looking for a test engineer with a background in Physics and Computer Science.

In my mind I never differentiated one’s capabilities on the basis of gender and so being a young woman working in NASA was not overwhelming. I had many distinguished female colleagues working with me who came from immigrant families all over the world. I found my working environment to be multi-racial and multi-ethnic and so I very much felt at home. We were like one well-organized, closely-knit family. In my current project, we are fortunate to be working under the guidance of a world renowned scientist (Dr. John Mather) who is a Nobel laureate.

Ratnabali Day in the middle with Nobel Laureate Dr. John Mather

(photo credits: Ratnabali Day)

Jiya: You worked on the Hubble Telescope for many years and now on the newly developed James Webb Telescope that is said to be the improved version of the Hubble Telescope. Why did NASA want to develop a new telescope; what is the major difference between the new Telescope and the Hubble?

Ratnabali: I worked for the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) project for six years and supported three servicing missions. Then I moved to the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) project. It is a successor to HST and much bigger. Both are Space Telescopes. HST is mainly an optical telescope with some infrared and UV capabilities. HST orbits around the earth at an altitude of about 350 miles. JWST will travel a million miles away from earth in an orbit around the second Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, L2. HST’s mirror is monolithic and 2.4 Meters in diameter. JWST will have a primary mirror with 18 segments, with a diameter of 6.5 Meters that will collect almost 6 times more light than the Hubble Space Telescope. JWST has a sun-shield the size of a tennis court, which is used to keep the telescope and its instruments permanently in the shade where they will cool down to minus 233ºC. JWST will observe deep space primarily in infrared. This means that it will be able to measure objects that are more distant, redshifted, and are further from the visible range of observation than Hubble. Being an infrared telescope (as opposed to an optical telescope) it can “see” far back in time, peering at the history of our universe when our solar system was born and how galaxies were formed. Truly fascinating!

Jiya: Describe one unusual and exciting day of your work life at NASA.

Ratnabali: My most exciting day at work was in December 1999 during servicing mission 3A of Hubble Space Telescope. That day, Astronaut Mike Foale replaced the onboard computer on Hubble with an advanced computer that my team had worked on. It was called Hubble’s brain surgery! We watched live as the computer was being replaced during the space walk. We waited with baited breath as the ‘Aliveness Test’ and ‘Functional tests’ were carried out to see if the new computer was working…. The tests were successful. It was a moment of great happiness and achievement!

Test engineer Ratnabali Day with astronaut Mike Foale. (photo credits: Ratnabali Day)

Jiya: It is a debate these days that women have to work harder than men to rise. In fact there is news in the media that an all-female space walk was just cancelled because there were not enough space suits available for two women. Do you feel in the engineering field women have to cross more barriers than men to achieve their career goals?

Ratnabali: I never felt that I had to struggle more than a man to achieve my career goals. If you have degrees in Engineering and Physical Science and you work hard, you can always have a job that you love and enjoy in space science. I never wanted to be an astronaut so I have not travelled that path. There are only a few hundred astronauts. But there are thousands of engineers and scientists at NASA, NOAA, NSF and many other organizations, companies and universities working for the advancement of our knowledge of science. Many among them are women.

Jiya: Apart from NASA, which other organizations in the US are involved in space engineering? Is there a competition or do they work in collaboration with each other?

Ratnabali: NASA works with universities, aerospace companies and other space organizations from other countries in collaboration. JWST is a joint effort of NASA, ESA (European Space Agency), and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). ISS (International Space Station) is a joint project of United States, Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.

Jiya: Why is it important to have more people, boys and girls alike, join the field of space engineering?

Ratnabali: Space science is important for the future of the earth and all of us living on it. On the 20th of July this year we shall be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked on the moon. This inspired generations of boys and girls to become space researchers, scientists, engineers and astronauts. As a result, today we are reaching out to Mars. Space science has helped explore resources, promote environmental research and advance science education to save our own planet, which is endangered by over population, global warming and environmental pollution. Advancement of space science has also made huge contributions in the fields of medicine, information technology, food and agriculture, defense and security and many others.

But every job in our society is important. There are no gender specific jobs in most areas. A girl or boy must have the opportunity to study a subject they like, and choose to work in an environment that nourishes them. One can choose to be a teacher, mechanic, fire person, police, scientist, engineer, chef, musician, doctor or writer. There are so many subjects or career paths you can choose from. It is important to do something that helps our earth and the inhabitants.

Jiya: What is NASA doing to encourage high school students to work in the field of space engineering?

Ratnabali: High School children visit NASA centers and learn from the scientists and engineers about different space programs. NASA employees are involved with the STEM program. NASA has implemented programs and curricula to advance STEM education in order to replenish the pool of scientists, engineers and mathematicians who will lead space exploration in the 21st century.

Jiya: Who was one of your idols in the field of space when you were a student?

Ratnabali: When I was a student of Physics in India I always admired a physicist named Dr. Richard Feynman. He was a brilliant unconventional physicist who always thought out of the box. My father instilled the idea of space in me during my preschool days and told me about the first man and first woman in space, Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova. And then there was the lunar landing in 1969 when I was in elementary school. That inspired many children all over the world about space science including me.

Jiya: You grew up in a University town in India called Santiniketan. The education system in Santiniketan was founded by the Nobel Laureate environmentalist, poet, and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore. Did your unique education in Santiniketan, where students were closely connected to nature, play any kind of role in choosing a path towards science?

Ratnabali: I went to study in Santiniketan at an early age and stayed in the boarding school there. Rabindranath Tagore founded the school. Tagore was way ahead of his time. He understood that children should be close to nature and not locked up in classrooms all the time. We had some classes outdoors under the trees. All subjects were taught by very dedicated teachers. Our science class included spending time in nature and we collected plants and insects ourselves to study under the microscopes. We were taught to keep our minds open about all subjects and also learned to help others. We learned to be good human beings first by observing our teachers. Many of my classmates from this unique school have excelled in different areas such as economics, history, physics, and computer science.

Jiya: What is your view about the role of scientists in preserving and protecting our planet and the Universe?

Ratnabali: Our planet is facing threats of permanent damage caused by poverty, resource depletion, environmental pollution, global warming and over population. To solve these very serious problems, science and education are working hand in hand. It is so uplifting to see children all over the world being inspired to work and influence others to fight pollution and preserve a clean environment. Discoveries and innovations are progressing by leaps and bounds that can help protect our planet such as with the use of technology, sustainable agricultural practices, recycling and waste management processes, to name but a few. But we have a long way to go. We still have to convince some governments of the world that climate change and environmental protection are more important than commercial gain and enterprise. We owe it to our future generations.