Judy Sullivan (born 1943) is an American retired biomedical engineer[1] who worked for NASA during the Apollo 11, Apollo 10, Apollo 9, Apollo 8, and Gemini 12 missions.[3] She was the lead biomedical engineer for the Apollo 9 and Apollo 11 missions.[1][3] Sullivan was the only woman in her department, and one of only a relative few women working for NASA in a technical role at that time.[1][3] She was the first woman engineer hired by NASA for spacecraft testing.[4]
Judy Sullivan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Judy Shanaberger 1943 (age 80–81)[3] |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Biomedical engineer |
| Known for | Work on Apollo 11 |
Early life and education
editSullivan (then Shanaberger) attended high school in Alabama, where she graduated as valedictorian. She attended Jacksonville State College in Jacksonville, Alabama, where she majored in biology and minored in chemistry and math and graduated second in her class. She chose to study math and science after hearing a speech by then U.S. president John F. Kennedy encouraging more scholars to study engineering, science, and math.[5][3] In 2019, she said she would have preferred to attend medical school, but did not have the money to afford it.[3]
Career
editHigh school teacher
editAfter graduating from college, Sullivan started her career as a high school math and science teacher in Cocoa Beach, Florida.[3][4] In 1966, she applied for employment at NASA, and was hired as an aerospace technologist and engineer.[3]
NASA
editSullivan was not recruited by NASA or even applying for a full-time job, but first applied for a summer job with NASA.[5] Sullivan was hired at NASA in 1966 as the first woman engineer in Spacecraft Operations.[6] In the 1960s, 17 percent of the staff at NASA were women, and most of those women were secretaries.[2] She was lead biomedical engineer for the Apollo 11 mission and was the only woman to help Neil Armstrong in the suit lab prior to Apollo 11's launch.[7] Sullivan was in the control room for the 1969 launch, keeping track of the biomedical systems;[8] while she could not see the launch, she said, "My seat rumbled and you knew something powerful was going on".[3]
As a biomedical engineer, Sullivan was responsible for maintaining the medical telemetry devices worn by the astronauts, and monitoring the telemetry from those instruments prior to and during the launch process.[4] Sullivan checked the functioning of the medical telemetry instruments shortly after they were attached to the astronauts during the suit-up process.[4] Later in the flight, responsibility for that telemetry was shifted to the Houston center.[4]
Sullivan was quoted in a news story at the time, saying:
The astronauts wear our sensors which are attached to their bodies during major spacecraft tests and during flight. These sensors monitor their heart beat, take electrocardiograms, and monitor respiration rates and depths.
During spacecraft testing and live launches at KSC, a resident doctor and I, as biomed engineer, sit at the consoles and monitor the biomedical data coming from the spacecraft.
The doctor evaluates the crewman's physical condition, and I, the performance of the biomedical system.[4]
Sullivan notes that hers was the only female voice on the voice channels, so if she made any error, everyone would know who was responsible, while a male voice might not be recognized.[3][4][9]
Sullivan did not have an engineering degree,[3] but NASA policy at that time allowed her to be so classified as one based on her academic record in college, where she graduated in the top 20% of her class with a heavy focus on mathematics.[9]
Acting
editSullivan was respected at NASA for her work with the Apollo 11 spacecraft, but parted ways with NASA following the mission's completion. After NASA, Sullivan's only son moved out and she started to experience empty nest syndrome.[10] Sullivan explored modeling, meeting with the Philadelphia Casting Company, but decided not to pursue it as a career after shooting one commercial.[11] She had a first lead role in a film about a soldier in Vietnam who finds a doctor's diary.[10]
After Apollo 11, Sullivan moved to Ithaca, New York with her husband Marshall Sullivan and taught middle school while her husband attended Cornell University. The couple later moved their family to Pennsylvania, where she worked as a teacher and a food technologist for Kraft.[11] Today Sullivan is proud of her accomplishments with NASA and continues to encourage young women to go into the fields of science, math, and engineering.[3][12]
On July 19, 2019, Our Daily Planet declared Sullivan its "Hero of the Week" for her role at NASA and for her encouragement of young women to pursue careers in technology and science.[13]
Personal life
editWhile in training for NASA in St. Louis, Missouri, Sullivan (then Shanaberger) met Marshall Sullivan, and the two began dating.[3] He was later transferred to Florida, and they were married.[3] After the Apollo 11 mission, he pursued a MBA at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, and she resumed teaching. They later moved to the Lower Macungie Township in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, where they raised a family.[3]
Notes
edit- ^ a b c d "Judy Sullivan, Lead Engineer for the Apollo 11 Biomedical System". NASA. NASA. July 9, 2019. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ a b Werner, Debra (July–August 2019). "Women reflect on Apollo". Areospace America. Archived from the original on July 20, 2021. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Palochko, Jacqueline (July 15, 2019). "50 years after mission accomplished, Lower Macungie woman talks about her role as Apollo 11 biomedical engineer". The Morning Call (Florida). Retrieved October 8, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e f g Benedict, Joy (July 8, 1969). "A Girl Engineer for NASA". Florida Today. p. 1D. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- ^ a b America, Good Morning. "Former NASA engineer shares what it was like working on Apollo 11 as a woman". Good Morning America. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ Patrinos, Thalia (July 7, 2019). "Judy Sullivan, Lead Engineer for the Apollo 11 Biomedical System". NASA. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ Salam, Maya (July 23, 2019). "Five Women Who Made the Moon Landing Possible". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 16, 2019.
- ^ Loff, Sarah (April 17, 2015). "Apollo 11 Mission Overview". NASA. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ a b "Lady Engineer Keeps Tabs on Astronauts". Miami Herald. June 29, 1969. p. G4. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
- ^ a b Reich, Ronni (April 24, 2003). "Judy Sullivan". Bigale. Archived from the original on October 22, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
- ^ a b Reich, Ronni (April 3, 2008). "WHO GOT THE PART?". ProQuest 1627217.
- ^ Tang, Elisa (July 18, 2019). "Former NASA engineer shares what it was like working on Apollo 11 as a woman". Good Morning America. Retrieved October 10, 2019.
- ^ "Hero of the Week: Judy Sullivan". Our Daily Planet. July 19, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
Further reading
edit- Weitekamp, Margaret A. (2004). Right Stuff, Wrong Sex : America's first women in space program. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 0801879949. OCLC 55124275.