If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Did you know that before digital computers existed, the complex math required to launch America’s first satellite was performed entirely by hand by an elite group of women?
- Have you ever wondered how a team of 'human computers' managed to navigate the earliest rockets into space using little more than pencils and passion?
- What’s the secret history of the women who transformed the Jet Propulsion Laboratory from a backyard hobby into the powerhouse of modern space exploration?
Listen to Rise of the Rocket Girls — Free Audiobook
Key Takeaways from Rise of the Rocket Girls
- Discover how intelligent and driven women acted as human 'computers' to perform the complex, hand-written calculations that made early space exploration possible.
- Learn how the Jet Propulsion Laboratory established an unprecedented all-female computing division in the 1940s to process the massive mathematical data needed for rocket engineering.
- Understand why lacking formal engineering degrees didn't stop brilliant women with advanced math skills from optimizing military missile propellants during World War II.
- Find out how the multi-stage launch calculations performed by female computers became the critical key to helping rockets escape Earth's gravitational pull.
- Explore how a diverse team of female computers secretly advanced satellite research and powered the historic Jupiter-C rocket during the early Space Race.
Rise of the Rocket Girls — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Barbara Canright was the first female computer ever hired to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Chapter 3: JPL grew quickly and soon started working on military rockets.
Chapter 4: As it developed army missiles, JPL also laid the groundwork for future space exploration.
Chapter 5: The success of Jupiter-C was bittersweet, yet it still counted in the space race.
Chapter 6: In the 1960s, JPL aimed its sights at the Moon, but electronic computers weren’t very helpful.
Chapter 7: Voyager and Viking missions marked truly high points for the computing team at JPL.
Chapter 8: In the seventies, advances at JPL went beyond computers; feminism at last began to make a real difference.
Chapter 9: The women at JPL remain essential to NASA’s ongoing success.
Rise of the Rocket Girls Summary & Overview
Rise of the Rocket Girls (2016) reveals the intriguing and enlightening stories of the women who worked at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. It traces the laboratory from its earliest days through to modern times, from its quirky beginnings to its role as one of NASA’s most important component parts. These women were responsible for crunching numbers and the important calculations that kept the United States in the space race and helped launch rockets, satellites and probes into the farthest corners of the solar system. Their influence cannot be denied. And, more than that, it must be acknowledged.
Who Should Listen to Rise of the Rocket Girls?
- Readers who seek strong female role models
- Science geeks
- Space enthusiasts
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