Electronics Weekly
Carolyn is the chief technologist at Nasa’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Her department develops and operates missions for astrophysics, heliophysics, Earth science, planetary science, biological science and fundamental physical sciences.
In this role, she spearheads the co-ordination of technology across the space agency and with external entities. She is responsible for fostering “the infusion of new technologies into SMD flight missions” and ensuring that Nasa technology investments are aligned with SMD priorities, according to National Academies’ Decadal Surveys. She also maintains relationships with universities, the scientific and engineering community and industry.
“My primary objectives are to advocate for the development of technologies that can dramatically change the way we do science missions – either enabling entirely new science or reducing the cost of missions so we can do more – and to get those technologies infused into new science missions,” she says. “I believe that the best path to infusion is to get the engineers developing new technology, talking to the mission developers as early as possible.” One way to do this is by liaising between different parties. “I spend a good deal of time arranging events that bring these groups together for productive conversations,” she says.
Planetary exploration
She has led several technology development programs throughout her career, including optical instrumentation for propulsion ground test facilities, intelligent systems for aircraft jet engines and energy storage systems for human lunar exploration. While at Nasa Science, which “seeks to discover the secrets of the universe, search for life elsewhere and protect and improve life on Earth and in space”, she established the Planetary Exploration Systems Technology Office (Pesto) in 2017.
Pesto, based at Nasa’s Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, recommends non-mission specific, non-nuclear investments in planetary technology and manages those investments across Nasa. It has developed a Planetary Science Technology Development strategy to create capabilities to explore the solar system, reach new destinations and operate in new ways in new environments.
“The creation of Pesto brought a sharp focus to co-ordinate the breadth of technology development needed for future planetary science missions,” she says.
“As is true across SMD, much of the new technology needed for planetary science is advanced science instruments. But unique to planetary science is the need to get to very remote locations in our solar system and to survive the very harsh environments found there upon arrival.
“Future missions might go to an icy moon of Jupiter to search for life in an ocean covered by a thick ice crust, or to the surface of Venus to understand the forces that transformed that planet from having benign Earth-like conditions to a blistering hot and caustic inhospitable environment.
“Planetary science missions need electronics, robotics and power systems capable of operating in these harsh environments, as well as high data rate communications over vast distances, autonomy to optimise science operations without human intervention and propulsion systems to get to the outer planets quickly.
“While I was in Pesto we created the HOTTech [Hot Operating Temperature Technology] and COLDTech [Concepts for Ocean worlds Life Detection Technology] programs to develop some of these technologies,” Carolyn adds.
[The SMD invests hundreds of millions of dollars on new technology to transform science missions and Pesto is responsible for about a quarter of that spend.]
Technologies with potential
There are some Earth-bound technologies that are being used by the agency that could push the boundaries of space exploration even further.
Giving a talk about Jupiter at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington DC January 2025
“There are a handful of technologies that are poised to dramatically change the way we conduct Nasa’s space science missions,” says Carolyn. These are high performance space computing, autonomy, quantum sensing, artificial intelligence and increased use of commercial capabilities.
“Radiation-tolerant high-performance processors, including GPU and neuromorphic chip sets, will enable onboard data processing to enable real-time science responsivity and full health management systems for autonomous deep space navigation.
“Advanced quantum sensors will enable our search for life on exoplanets (planets orbiting stars other than the Sun) and our ability to understand the fundamental physics governing our universe.
“Artificial intelligence is already transforming the way we process science data, it will increasingly be important to merge the myriad data sets we create to rapidly transition from data to knowledge, perhaps most importantly for Earth science and understanding space weather,” she continues.
“Increasingly capable commercial systems offer the opportunity to substantially reduce costs and allow scientists to focus on their advanced scientific instruments instead of the spacecraft buses themselves.”
From an early age Carolyn enjoyed puzzles and maths. “I thought I would study mathematics, but when I was encouraged to apply for scholarships, the one I received was for engineering. My father [an engineer at Boeing] convinced me to take it, knowing I could discontinue the scholarship and switch majors if I didn’t like it. I picked aerospace engineering because it required the most math. It turned out I was good at it and never stopped liking it,” she recalls.
Growing up, she says most of her friends’ fathers were engineers at Boeing, which possibly influenced her choice of engineering summer jobs as a student.
A revelation in the college library in her final undergraduate year set her on her Nasa career path. “I read a book about holography that utterly fascinated me. On a summer job application to Nasa I listed it as an interest and I was hired because (in addition to my excellent grades) they were initiating a program in optical instrumentation. My combination of aerospace expertise and optics interest was just what they needed. They sent me to get a PhD in optical sciences [at the University of Arizona]”. Her first job was to develop an optical instrumentation research lab to develop diagnostics leading to improved fuel efficiency for intermittent combustion engines used in small aircraft.
She became the first person to make 3D laser velocimetry measurements in the simulated combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine. As chief of the Optical Instrumentation branch at Nasa, she managed a team developing optical instrumentation systems and techniques for ground-based test facilities, including optical tweezers, surface plasma sensors and speckle interferometers for space experiments and science observations. Before her current role, she was project manager at Nasa Glenn Research Center, managing technology development for solar arrays for electric propulsion systems, regenerative fuel cells and batteries for lunar exploration and adaptive engine technologies for commercial aircraft.
Nasa then and now
Carolyn joined Nasa in 1983 and has seen some changes, not just advances in technology and space exploration.
Carolyn at the Nasa Ames, Roverscape test facility, California, which is developing automated ways to assemble large structures on the Moon or in orbit.
“In the 1980s Nasa proactively increased the diversity of its workforce, recognising that there was a shortage of engineers and great ideas need to come from the entire population.
“I was a beneficiary of that initiative, and dare I say Nasa was too. Over the years the definition of who can be an engineer has dramatically changed as more women and people of colour have excelled in roles throughout Nasa and [the] space industry.” Today, she says it is less common that she is one of only a few women in the room.
Carolyn is pleased that attitudes have changed and that a younger generation does not approach any career, particularly one in aerospace, with trepidation. “It felt to me like such an audacious goal to be an aerospace engineer that I did not imagine what I would do with my degree once obtained. I didn’t have an overarching career goal, but instead took opportunities as they arose, always choosing options that interested me most and trusting that I could figure out the new skills and knowledge needed no matter how much of a stretch it seemed.
“For a long time, I thought that my lack of a clear career goal was unusual because magazine interviews like these often make it sound like everyone knew exactly what they wanted and strove directly to get there. I now understand that my experience is very common and career paths are usually circuitous, not linear at all. My advice is to jump at opportunities that sound interesting, trust yourself, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”
She taught her own daughter algebra in kindergarten and describes herself as “the math mom” instigating math games and puzzles for her daughter’s friends when they came over. “I focused on encouraging proficiency in all subjects rather than recommending a specific career path,” she says. The encouragement was well received; her daughter, now 28 years old, gained a Bachelor of Science and is an enigmatologist with a business of her own.
See also: Military/Aerospace Electronics
