Thursday, August 9, 2018

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates the Native American engineer who helped send us to space

Today’s Google Doodle celebrates Mary Golda Ross, the first known female Native American engineer. Born today in 1917, she was the great-great-granddaughter of John Ross, the longest-serving chief of the Cherokee Nation. She went on to be the only woman (aside from the secretary) on a top-secret 40-person team that helped send people to space.

Ross worked as a teacher at a Native American boarding school before pursuing a masters degree in math at the Colorado State College of Education. During World War II, Ross joined Lockheed Aircraft Corporation to engineer fighter plans. Afterward, she earned a certification in aeronautical engineering from UCLA.

Next, Lockheed asked her to be one of 40 engineers on its elite, secret “Skunk Works”...

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