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Annie Easley joined NACA, NASA's forerunner, in 1955 as a 'human computer' doing calculations by hand, then became a programmer. Her code supported the Centaur rocket stage, which later sent probes such as Voyager and Cassini into space, and research on energy and batteries.

Annie Easley

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The story behind the card

Easley was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1933. When she joined the Lewis Flight Propulsion Laboratory in Cleveland, Ohio, she was one of only four Black employees among about 2,500. As machines took over the arithmetic, she learned the programming languages FORTRAN and SOAP. Centaur, a rocket stage that fires after the first stage is spent, was the first to burn liquid hydrogen with liquid oxygen, and her programs supported its analyses. Her energy work included simulations that supported early battery research for hybrid vehicles. She finished a mathematics degree at Cleveland State University in 1977 while working full time. As an equal employment opportunity counsellor, she helped resolve discrimination complaints, and she encouraged girls and minority students to take up science. She retired in 1989.

Türkçe oku
Annie Easley, 1955'te NASA'nın öncülü NACA'ya hesapları elle yapan bir “insan bilgisayar” olarak girdi, sonra programcı oldu. Yazdığı kodlar, sonradan Voyager ve Cassini gibi sondaları uzaya gönderecek Centaur roket kademesine ve enerji ile batarya araştırmalarına destek verdi.

Easley 1933'te Alabama'nın Birmingham kentinde doğdu. Ohio'nun Cleveland kentindeki Lewis Uçuş İtki Laboratuvarı'na girdiğinde, yaklaşık 2.500 çalışan arasındaki yalnızca dört Siyah çalışandan biriydi. Hesap işini makineler devralınca FORTRAN ve SOAP programlama dillerini öğrendi. Centaur, ilk kademe yakıtını bitirdikten sonra ateşlenen bir roket kademesidir ve sıvı hidrojeni sıvı oksijenle yakan ilk kademe oydu; Easley'nin programları bu kademenin çözümlemelerine destek verdi. Enerji alanındaki çalışmaları arasında hibrit araçlar için yapılan ilk batarya araştırmalarını destekleyen benzetimler de vardı. Tam gün çalışırken 1977'de Cleveland State Üniversitesi'nde matematik lisansını tamamladı. Eşit istihdam fırsatı danışmanı olarak ayrımcılık şikâyetlerinin çözülmesine yardım etti; kız öğrencileri ve azınlıklardan gelen gençleri bilime yönlendirdi. 1989'da emekli oldu.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Annie Easley
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