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Hey, I'm Jori. At
NASA, we pay tribute to the women in STEM

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who continue to lead the way
 for change in our society and culture.

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This March, we share the spotlight on just
 a few in honor of Women's History Month.

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Did you know human computers
 were a huge part of NASA's history?

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During her 34 years at NASA, Annie

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Easley paved the way for women's rights
 by helping supervisors

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address issues such as gender, race
 and age discrimination.

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And on the other side of the country,
 Helen Ling hired women computers

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who wanted to be engineers but
 who didn't have the necessary education.

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Over the years, more women were trained
 to be NASA astronauts.

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While she never went to space, Dr.

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Patricia Cowings
 became the first American woman scientist

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to be trained as a payload specialist
 and even developed a method

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to train astronauts on how to combat
 motion sickness during spaceflight.

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Did you know a NASA engineer was inspired
 by a drinking straw

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to create a new way
 to clean up toxic waste?

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Well, it's true!

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NASA environmental engineer Jackie Quinn
 was hit by inspiration in the cafeteria

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when she came up with an invention
 to clean up contaminated

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water and soil, all
 thanks to a drinking straw!

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Houston, do you copy?

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In 2001, Ginger Kerrick

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became the first non-astronaut capsule
 communicator, a.k.a.

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the person who relays information from
 Mission Control to astronauts in space.

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Four years later, Ginger became NASA's
 first Hispanic female flight director.

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From politics to science,
 pioneers to engineers,