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- Hi everyone. I'm Antonia Jaramillo with\h
NASA Communications and we are here at the\h\h

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Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Welcome\h
to our Women's History Month Show where\h\h

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we will feature three incredible women and the\h
amazing work they do here at Kennedy. First up,\h\h

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we have Charlie Blackwell-Thompson, Artemis\h
Launched Director, Hibah Rahmani, Avionics and\h\h

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Flight Controls Lead and Pri Johnson, Subsystem\h
Lead and Systems Engineer. Charlie, Hibah, and Pri\h\h

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thank you guys so much for joining us here today.\h
Now, before we begin I was hoping you could tell\h\h

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us a little bit more about the work that you do\h
here at NASA. Charlie, if you wanna kick it off.

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- Sure, I'm Charlie Blackwell-Thompson and\h
I am the Artemis Launch Director. I get to\h\h

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work with an amazing team of people that are\h
planning for the Artemis launch countdown.

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- That's so cool just every time\h
I hear that. How about you Hibah?

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- So my name is Hibah Rahmani and I'm an Avionics\h
Engineer. I support the Launch Services Program\h\h

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here at Kennedy Space Center. And my job is to\h
make sure that the avionic system on rockets that\h\h

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carry NASA satellite is working properly so that\h
the spacecraft can get to where it needs to go.

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- And you Pri?

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- I'm a Subsystem Lead and Assistance Engineer for\h
MSolo which is a modified commercial off the shelf\h\h

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mass spectrometer that will map out the abundance\h
of water and other volatiles on the moon.\h\h

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This will give us more information about\h
what resources will be available for\h\h

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Artemis astronauts on the\h
moon when they get there.\h\h

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The eventual goal is to harvest enough water to\h
create a sustainable human presence on the moon.

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- Wow, you know, I hear you guys talk about your\h
jobs and everything and well, it all sounds really\h\h

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cool and sometimes I'm kind of like, what does\h
it all mean? So I'm sure you get this question\h\h

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a lot but if you could pinpoint it what is the\h
one thing you enjoy the most about your job?

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- Well, I'll tell you my favorite part. My\h
favorite part of my job is working with the team\h\h

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and in particular for Artemis, as we get\h
ready for this first launch, you know,\h\h

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we are learning and we're growing together.\h
And so building that launch capability\h\h

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is one of the favorite parts of my job, but\h
it's the people aspect of seeing individuals\h\h

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grow in their subsystem and then how we\h
all come together as a team, you know,\h\h

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in the final minutes and seconds of launch\h
countdown as the countdown clock is moving,\h\h

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I depend upon our team to make the go\h
no-go calls in those critical moments. And\h\h

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the way in which we get prepared for launch day\h
is through dedication, it's through practice,\h\h

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it's through that learning and growing environment\h
as a team. So that's my favorite part of my job.

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- [Antonia] I love that.

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- It's funny I actually was gonna have a similar\h
response about working with the team. And what I\h\h

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enjoy most is working with a passionate dedicated\h
team that's willing to do literally anything it\h\h

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takes to complete our mission on the moon.\h
And the reason our team has that passion\h\h

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is because the mission is unbelievable.\h
You know, why did people care about Apollo?\h\h

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Yes, there was the space race, but if you go\h
outside tonight look up at the moon and think\h\h

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about how men have walked on it. Think about\h
the joy and unity and hope that gave people,\h\h

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all around the world as they watched that first\h
broadcast from the moon. And now we're setting the\h\h

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stage to create a sustainable human presence\h
there. And it's gonna take a lot of blood,\h\h

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sweat and tears hard days and long nights\h
just like it did in the Apollo program.\h\h

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But we're NASA. Our team has that goal in mind\h
and we won't stop not for a hurricane, not for\h\h

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a pandemic, we're going. And my favorite part\h
about my job is getting to be a part of that team.

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- So I'd like to echo the same comments.\h
The team that we work with here\h\h

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is just amazing. And it is a honor\h
and privilege to be part of the team.\h\h

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I would also like to add that my favorite of,\h
one of, my favorite part of the job is actually\h\h

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launch day because that's when years and years\h
of hard work that the team has gone through,\h\h

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all of that comes together in that one day\h
and we get to see the rocket launch and\h\h

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take the astronauts or the satellite or whatever\h
we're launching, take it to its destination.

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- Oh, absolutely. I know launch day is one of\h
my most exciting days. Not only is it a sight\h\h

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to see but just like how you guys were saying,\h
I mean it's all about that team and everything.\h\h

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And the fact that then you guys can come together\h
and celebrate in this one unifying moment it's,\h\h

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that must be so incredibly exciting for\h
you guys, especially, I can't even imagine.\h\h

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You know going on the whole inspiration note, can\h
you tell us, you know, who has been the person\h\h

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that has inspired you the most especially\h
now at this point in your career?

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- So my greatest inspiration has always\h
been astronauts. When I was a kid I would,\h\h

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whenever I would walk at night I would watch the\h
moon and stars. And whenever I would look at the\h\h

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moon as a kid I would think about astronauts like\h
Neil Armstrong who have stepped on the moon. And\h\h

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when I started working out here at Kennedy\h
Space Center, I had the opportunity to meet\h\h

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several astronauts because my first job here was\h
working on the processing of the International\h\h

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Space Station. And we had several astronauts who\h
would come to the high bay where I was working,\h\h

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and it was just an honor and inspiration\h
to meet them and get to know them.

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- So for me, it's both my mom and my mother-in-law\h
are strong women. Though they've each taken very\h\h

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different paths in life. And so they've been a\h
testament to me that no matter what you choose\h\h

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to do or what your circumstances are, you\h
have the strength you need to keep going.

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- Yes, so similar to Pri I would say when I grew\h
up, you know my mom was a huge inspiration to me\h\h

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and she always instilled in me the belief that you\h
can do whatever you want to do. Certainly as I got\h\h

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older, a little bit older, you know, and looked\h
around, I had role models that were women who were\h\h

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doing things that maybe were not traditional roles\h
for them. Women like Amelia Earhart, Sally Ride,\h\h

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you know, Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, Dorothy\h
Vaughan Joanne Morgan who's even is closer to home\h\h

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and work here at Kennedy Space Center. And was\h
the only woman in the launch team for Apollo 11.\h\h

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So it would be hard to pick who is the most\h
inspirational, but certainly, there is such\h\h

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a debt of gratitude to all the amazing women\h
who came before us who really laid that path\h\h

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for us to walk down. So just some amazing women\h
and certainly draw inspiration from all of them.

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- Definitely and I mean, you know, just\h
all the examples that you gave Charlie,\h\h

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you know I'm sure you guys, you\h
three are also, you know, inspiring\h\h

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several women, either who work with you\h
or the next generation of women. I mean,\h\h

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just look at you, you're NASA's first female\h
launch director and that's just an amazing feat\h\h

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to accomplish. And I'm sure that's just going\h
to inspire so many people to lead that way.\h\h

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And just in general, I mean we now want to\h
send the first female astronaut to the moon,\h\h

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and Hibah you mentioned how having astronauts on\h
the moon that was a big inspiration for you. And I\h\h

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just gotta say 'cause I'm curious and I always\h
ask it to anyone who works at NASA you know,\h\h

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if you guys could, would you want to\h
ever be an astronaut and go into space?

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- [Hibah] I would love to.

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- Same here, yeah

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- I would too, absolutely yeah.

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- No, that would be awesome. I would like you\h
guys to all, like, we could all go together\h\h

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and do a show from there, from space.\h
No that would be so cool. You know,\h\h

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when did you first realize that you had a\h
passion to pursue a STEM field? You know,\h\h

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just like how you guys mentioned, it's maybe,\h
it hasn't always been the super traditional role\h\h

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for women but here you guys are pursuing\h
your passion and doing amazing at it.

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- So for me, it's a little different\h
because in the Indian culture\h\h

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you're often told what you're\h
gonna do when you grow up.\h\h

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And so my parents told me at a very young age\h
that I was going to be an engineer and they\h\h

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worked really hard to make sure that I excelled\h
at STEM and I'm so grateful to them for that.\h\h

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They made sure that I had the resources I\h
needed to be the best engineer that I could be.

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- So I realized at a young age that I wanted to\h
pursue engineering. As I mentioned earlier, when\h\h

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I would walk at night and look at the moon\h
and stars, I was always inspired by them. So I\h\h

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remember in my science textbook, the chapter on\h
the solar system was always my favorite chapter\h\h

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because I get to learn about the stars and\h
the moon and the sun and all the different\h\h

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planets. So I kinda had that passion growing\h
up. And when I was in eighth grade I knew that\h\h

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I wanted to become an engineer 'cause I could\h
apply whatever I learned in science and math\h\h

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and do something with it in engineering.\h
So really the night sky, I would say it\h\h

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was my inspiration. And because of that\h
I knew I wanted to pursue engineering.

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- So I think that's fabulous. I was\h
probably a little different case. So I was\h\h

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always good in math. I liked the fact that\h
I could, you know, numbers made sense to me.\h\h

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There was a logic in that. So I had a really solid\h
foundation. Math was always my favorite subject\h\h

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but I didn't know what I wanted to\h
study. And I had a fabulous teacher that\h\h

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in my junior year of high school said to me "What\h
are you gonna study when you go away to college?"\h\h

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And I said, "I don't know." And he said, "I think\h
you should think about engineering, Charlie."\h\h

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And I remember exactly what he said to me or\h
what I said to him, which was, "Well what would\h\h

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I do with an engineering degree?" You know what\h
kinds of things could I do? And he looked at me\h\h

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and he said, "What couldn't you do?" And that\h
advice has been really prophetic because that has,\h\h

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engineering degree really provided me such a\h
solid foundation to build upon. So I'm really,\h\h

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I look back and I think how lucky I was to have\h
that special teacher that encouraged me that kinda\h\h

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pointed me in a direction. And so that's kinda set\h
me on a course to study engineering. And then in\h\h

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terms of that passion for STEM, you know, when I\h
came here to Kennedy Space Center a long time ago,\h\h

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and walked in the firing room, I knew in that\h
moment, that I wanted to be a part of that team\h\h

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and that I wanted to earn me a place in the\h
room. And so I would say my passion for it really\h\h

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ignited when I came here to Kennedy Space Center,\h
which is why after all these years, I still find\h\h

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myself drawn to that firing room and drawn\h
to the team and drawn to the flight hardware.

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- That's great. No I definitely, I can tell just\h
from your guys' answers that, you know, you're\h\h

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very passionate about your work. I know when I was\h
growing up, my mom would also tell, she'd tell me,\h\h

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she'd be like "Tony, pursue a career in STEM." And\h
I just didn't listen to her . Maybe that's on me,\h\h

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but I tell her in another life maybe I would have\h
been an astrophysicist 'cause like you Hibah,\h\h

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I loved the night sky. No, but that's great.\h
And, you know, on kind of your guys' passion and\h\h

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your story of how you got into that STEM field,\h
what advice would you give to young girls who\h\h

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are either considering a career in STEM,\h
are unsure about what they wanna do,\h\h

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or you know, are maybe a bit intimidated\h
about stepping into that field?\h\h

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'Cause it is, you know, very,\h
very intimidating at some angle.

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- Well, the first thing I would say is, come\h
on, right? STEM is wide open for you and you\h\h

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absolutely can do it there's no doubt you\h
can do it. And I would say the same thing\h\h

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that that high school teacher said to me.\h
It gives you such a foundation to build\h\h

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upon that whatever career you choose, there\h
are so many different avenues whether you\h\h

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wanna work in design and development or\h
test or law jobs . Wherever you want to,\h\h

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you know, there's so many applications for that\h
engineering degree or that STEM degree, and I\h\h

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think it just gives you just such a springboard.\h
So I would highly encourage young ladies to\h\h

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think about STEM and to give it some thought\h
'cause it is really a great field to study in.

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- My advice to any any young girl who wants to\h
pursue STEM is to go for it. Like you said, there\h\h

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may be people who are discouraging you or you may\h
feel intimidated, but I would just say, ignore all\h\h

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those people and all those thoughts and go for it\h
because STEM is a very rewarding and fulfilling\h\h

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career. So I would highly encourage anyone\h
who wants to pursue it to go for it.

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- I'd say, don't let anyone tell you that you\h
aren't good at something. Whether that's math\h\h

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or science or writing or art. You likely\h
just need things explained in a different\h\h

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way if it's not clicking right away. So ask\h
for some one-on-one time with your teacher\h\h

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or get a private tutor.\h
Spend the time that you need\h\h

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to get it right because you eventually\h
will get it right if you work really hard.

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- I think that's great advice because I think\h
sometimes you know, you think, well, if this is\h\h

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hard for me, then maybe it's not meant to be. And\h
I can tell you engineering school was hard for me.\h\h

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There were certain courses that were\h
maybe a little easier than others,\h\h

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but it was definitely challenging at times,\h
but I'm so glad that I stuck with it. So,\h\h

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you know, I agree with you in\h
the, you know, stick with it.

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- I just wanna share a small, a short story,\h
personal story as Charlie and Pri were mentioning\h\h

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that, you know, there will be challenges in\h
engineering, you may find some challenges\h\h

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along the way, and I wanted to share one of my\h
challenges and that was I failed my first physics\h\h

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exam in engineering school and I cried about\h
it. I was discouraged, but I also knew that I\h\h

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was not gonna let this one test get in my way of\h
becoming an engineer. So I worked really hard in\h\h

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that class. And I started to pull up my grade and\h
eventually ended up with an A in the class. So\h\h

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don't be discouraged if you come across challenges\h
along the way, the end result is worth it.

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- Absolutely, and that's just great advice in\h
general you know, don't give up and don't, you\h\h

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know, there's, you're gonna fall down sometimes,\h
but as long as you pick yourself back up, then,\h\h

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you know, we can achieve our dreams. I\h
think that's just great advice in general.\h\h

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And that's awesome, I hope that inspired any\h
young viewers watching . You know, obviously\h\h

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as you guys mentioned, you know, Hibah you just\h
said when you failed your first physics exam.\h\h

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We have all faced challenges in our lives. Can\h
you tell us a little bit of some of the challenges\h\h

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or one challenge in particular that you have\h
faced in your career, and how you overcame it?

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- So I used to have a hard time speaking\h
up because I was afraid of being wrong.\h\h

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And eventually I realized that it's okay to\h
be wrong sometimes. I learned that you just\h\h

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have to work really hard, don't be afraid to\h
ask questions, and have confidence in yourself\h\h

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because when you have that confidence,\h
you're able to learn so much more.

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- One of the challenges that I had in my\h
career was I was asked to lead the effort for\h\h

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certifying SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket, certifying\h
the avionics system on that rocket for the LSP,\h\h

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Launch Services Program. And before we can fly a\h
NASA satellite or any rocket we need to certify\h\h

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it. And I had never done, I had never gone through\h
the certification process. So it was a learning\h\h

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experience for me. I had to learn how to do it, I\h
had to review lots of data, I had to do technical\h\h

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assessments, and as we were talking earlier, I'm\h
very fortunate that I work with a great team. So\h\h

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that team effort resulted in LSP launching\h
Jason-3, which is an ocean observing satellite\h\h

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in 2016. And that was years of hard work that\h
the team had performed to certify that rocket. So\h\h

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that was something new, something challenging\h
for me, and the reason I was able to accomplish,\h\h

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we were able to accomplish that certification\h
was through teamwork, hard work and dedication.

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- So let's see, I've had a lot of different\h
challenges over the years, but I think the one\h\h

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that maybe for me, the biggest, that wasn't really\h
a technical challenge per se but was more of a\h\h

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personal challenge, was\h
learning to balance between\h\h

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my family and my work. And I'm a mother of\h
three, and so when I had my children and they\h\h

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were young this was 20 plus 25 years ago, and\h
so a lot of the policies that we have today,\h\h

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the family-friendly policies, flex time and\h
other things weren't really mainstream. And so\h\h

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it was figuring out how to take care\h
of the high priority items at home,\h\h

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and be involved with my children, and be\h
involved in the things that they were doing,\h\h

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their sports and their activities at school, and\h
at the same time, you know, being involved in\h\h

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work and the things that were of high\h
priority there. And so it took some,\h\h

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you know, there's only so much time in the day,\h
and you really can't do everything. And so for me,\h\h

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I had to learn that, you know, my time to\h
place it on those priority items and to\h\h

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make sure that those things that were really\h
important to me either at home or at work,\h\h

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or really important to my team or my project at\h
work, that those were getting taken care of. And\h\h

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so it was really a lesson in prioritizing for me.\h
And that was kinda hard for me in the beginning.

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- No, absolutely. Just, I think just in\h
general, yeah, being able to manage your time\h\h

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effectively is such an important tool that, you\h
know, I know I still find myself struggling to do,\h\h

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and I'm not a mom yet or anything. And\h
so that's just incredibly challenging,\h\h

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I can't even imagine. I know I have like my\h
lead, she just became a mom and everything,\h\h

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and I just, sometimes I'm like in\h
awe of the work that she does and\h\h

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being able to do both. Kinda have to be like a\h
super mom . You know, that's so great. You know,\h\h

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we've talked a lot about here like the work that\h
we've done and everything, I think one of the\h\h

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most awesome things that we have here at Kennedy\h
Space Center is, you know, like how you mentioned\h\h

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Hibah, we have rockets launching from our\h
backyard. And so you know just out of curiosity,\h\h

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I kinda wanna know what has been your favorite\h
launch that you have seen, worked on, been a part\h\h

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of, you know, whichever aspect, and then which\h
is the one you're looking forward to the most?

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- Being a part of the launch team for the\h
mission that was going to return to Hubble\h\h

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was pretty special. Being here for the very\h
last space shuttle flight and being in the\h\h

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control center for that also very special.\h
The one that I'm looking forward to the most\h\h

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is the upcoming Artemis I launch.\h
So that one's an easy one for me.

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- Wow, I'm looking forward to that\h
one too . How about you Hibah?

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- So it is very difficult to pick a favorite\h
launch because all of them are special.\h\h

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I will mention again, Jason-3, Jason-3 launch.\h
It launched from Vandenberg in 2016. And that\h\h

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one is special to me because as I mentioned,\h
it was the first time I worked on a rocket from\h\h

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the very beginning which is\h
the certification process\h\h

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and all the way through launch day. So that's what\h
makes it special, but all launches are special.

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- And which one are you\h
looking forward to up next?

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- We have later in this year, we have more\h\h

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launches on the Falcon 9.\h
One is the DART launch, and\h\h

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there's another one called IXPE. So I'm working\h
on both of those and looking forward to those.

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- My favorite launch so far has probably been\h
the last shuttle launch because I literally had\h\h

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just come on as an intern, and I'd been here\h
for maybe a week or two, and the last shuttle\h\h

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launch happened. And I just couldn't, that\h
was my first shuttle launch I'd ever seen,\h\h

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and I just couldn't believe the feeling that\h
you get during the launch, how you can feel it\h\h

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in your chest. It was so powerful, and I was just\h
hooked after that. And the ones that I'm looking\h\h

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forward to, the most are the MSolo launches that\h
are gonna be occurring, there's four of them.\h\h

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There's one this year, a couple next\h
year, and one more a year after that.

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- I never got to see a shuttle launch,\h
and I definitely feel like I missed\h\h

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out on that 'cause I've just heard amazing\h
things. So, oh well, but that's incredible.\h\h

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You know, those are all the questions I had\h
for you guys today. I wanna thank you again\h\h

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so much for joining us and answering all\h
our questions. It was a pleasure having you.

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- Thanks for having us.

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- Thank you.

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- Thank you, it's pleasure being here.

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- Well, that's our show everyone.\h
Thank you so much for tuning in,\h\h

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and make sure to follow along for more\h
incredible work that women at NASA are doing\h\h

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at nasa.gov/women. And don't forget to stay up to\h
date to all the things happening here at Kennedy,\h\h