![]() West is a Virginia native, born south of Richmond in Dinwiddie County. The Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame is one of Air Force’s Space Commands Highest Honors.(Photo by Adrian Cadiz)ĭr. military in the era before electronic systems. West was among the so-called “Hidden Figures” part of the team who did computing for the U.S. Gladys West is inducted into the Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Hall of Fame during a ceremony in her honor at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., Dec. West shattered glass ceilings and broke barriers for women of color in mathematics and other STEM fields because of her persistence, abilities, and hard work. West and her team shaped the mathematics and technology behind GPS technology.Īdditionally, we are celebrating Black History Month this month at The Mariners’ Museum and Park. West, especially in her work with laying the groundwork for modern electronic GPS. We wanted to share in this international celebration by highlighting the work and career accomplishments of American mathematician and local Virginian, Dr. A technology that is essential to accurately tracking data associated with COVID-19 is the Global Positioning System (GPS). The day is meant to honor and celebrate the contributions to the sciences made by women and girls globally, and take a stance of commitment to continually expand the sciences to be more accessible and inclusive to women and girls. ![]() Today, February 11, 2021, is the International Day of Women and Girls in Science. It does not store any personal data.Celebrating International Day of Women, Girls in Science, and Black History Month! The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary". The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". ![]() These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This is a woman who knows her way, for sure. But better late than never!ĭespite her contribution to GPS, Dr West still prefers using a paper map: “If I can see the road and see where it turns and see where it went, I am more sure.” In this way, Dr West hugely contributed to the accuracy of modern GPS systems.ĭr West only started getting recognition for her contribution in 2018 back in the day, her race and gender kept her from being recognised. Together with her detailed mathematical modelling for the exact shape of Earth, this became a building block for what would become the GPS orbit. ![]() She studied hard, won a scholarship majoring in mathematics, and in the 1950s, started working for a United States naval base.įor the next two decades, Dr West climbed the ranks and became project manager for the Seasat (the first satellite that could monitor the oceans) radar altimetry project.įrom the 1970s to the 1980s, she worked on programming a computer that can calculate and determine the exact location and the orbits of satellites. But even at that young age, Dr West had her sights set on a life beyond her family’s small farm. As a child, finances were tight and she had to help harvest crops to get by.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |