Valerie Thomas
*Valerie Thomas, a Black scientist (physics) and inventor was born on this date in 1943.
Valerie L. Thomas was born in Baltimore, MD. She was interested in science as a child after observing her father tinkering with the television and seeing the mechanical parts inside the T.V. At the age of eight; she read The Boys First Book on Electronics, which sparked her interest in a career in science. Her father would not help her with the projects in the book despite his interest in electronics.
At the all-girls school she attended, she was not encouraged to pursue science and mathematics courses, though she did manage to take a physics course. Thomas did have a few STEM teachers who fought for her at a young age. She attended Morgan State University, one of two women majoring in physics. Thomas excelled in her mathematics and science courses at Morgan State University. She graduated in 1964 with a degree in physics and worked for NASA as a data analyst.
She developed real-time computer data systems to support satellite operations control centers (1964–1970) and oversaw creating the Landsat program (1970–1981), becoming an international expert in Landsat data products. Her participation in this program expanded upon the works of other NASA scientists in the pursuit of being able to visualize Earth from space. In 1974, Thomas headed a team of approximately 50 people for the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE), a joint effort with NASA's Johnson Space Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
An unprecedented scientific project, LACIE demonstrated the feasibility of using space technology to automate predicting wheat yield worldwide. In 1976, at an exhibition that included an illusion of a light bulb from its socket. The illusion, which involved another light bulb and concave mirrors, inspired Thomas. Curious about how light and concave mirrors could be used in her work at NASA, she began her research in 1977. This involved creating an experiment in which she observed how the position of a concave mirror would affect the real object that is reflected. Using this technology, she would invent the illusion transmitter.
On October 21, 1980, she obtained the patent for the illusion transmitter, U.S. patent 4229761A, a device NASA uses today. As a black woman, Thomas worked her way up to associate chief of NASA's Space Science Data Operations Office. In 1985, she was the NSSDC Computer Facility manager responsible for consolidating and reconfiguring two previously independent computer facilities and infusing them with new technology. She then served as the Space Physics Analysis Network (SPAN) project manager from 1986 to 1990, when SPAN underwent a major reconfiguration and grew from a scientific network with about 100 computer nodes to one directly connecting about 2,700 computer nodes worldwide.
In 1990, SPAN became a major part of NASA's science networking and today's Internet. She also participated in projects related to Halley's Comet, ozone research, satellite technology, and the Voyager spacecraft. In 1995, she retired from NASA and her positions of associate chief of NASA's Space Science Data Operations Office, the NASA Automated Systems Incident Response Capability manager, and the Space Science Data Operations Office Education Committee chair.
After retiring, Thomas was an associate at the UMBC Center for Multicore Hybrid Productivity Research. She continued to mentor youth through the Science Mathematics Aerospace Research and Technology, Inc., and the National Technical Association. Thomas's invention was in a children's fictional book, television, and video games. Thomas had often spoken to students from elementary school through college-/university-age and adult groups. She made many visits to schools and national meetings over the years. She has mentored many students working summers at Goddard Space Flight Center and judged at science fairs, working with organizations such as the National Technical Association (NTA) and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE). These programs encourage minority and female students to pursue science and technology careers.
She authored many scientific papers and holds a patent for the illusion transmitter. Thomas has received numerous awards for her achievements, including the Goddard Space Flight Center Award of Merit and NASA's Equal Opportunity Medal. She mentored countless students in the Mathematics Aerospace Research and Technology Inc. program. In February 2020, American musician Chance the Rapper posted about Valerie Thomas on his Twitter account, referencing her development of the illusion transmitter.
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