Ginger Kerrick
Ginger Kerrick | |
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Born | |
Alma mater | Texas Tech University (B.S. 1991) (M.S. 1993) |
Known for | First female Hispanic flight director at NASA |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Physics |
Institutions | Johnson Space Center |
Thesis | Infrared deep level transient spectroscopy (1993) |
Ginger Kerrick is an American physicist at NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. She is the first Hispanic female to be flight director at NASA.[1]
Education[]
Kerrick graduated second in her class from Hanks High School in El Paso, Texas, and was named El Paso Female Athlete of the Year.[1][2] She started her college degree at the University of Texas at El Paso, where she walked onto their women's basketball team.[2] During the first game of the season, she blew out her knee, ending her basketball career.[2] She then transferred to Texas Tech University to get her Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in physics.[3] Her 1993 master's thesis was entitled Infrared deep level transient spectroscopy.[4]
Career[]
Kerrick was a summer intern at NASA in 1991, which led to first a co-op position and then full-time employment as a materials research engineer with NASA in May, 1994.[5][6] Kerrick interviewed for the astronaut program, but was disqualified for kidney stones.[7] She became the first non-astronaut Capsule Communicator (Capcom),[5] first Russian-training-integration instructor,[6] and the first Hispanic female NASA flight director in 2005.[8][1][9] She served as flight director with NASA's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center from 2005 to 2012.[10][11]
![Ginger Kerrick at NASA.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0b/Ginger_Kerrick_%2829913358416%29.jpg/220px-Ginger_Kerrick_%2829913358416%29.jpg)
There, she created plans for scenarios of astronauts in space which assisted ISS and shuttle operations, making her a dual-certified flight director.[8][5] She currently is the division chief of the Flight Integration Division in FOD (Flight Operations Directorate) since August 2016.[10] Kerrick is a member of the American Physical Society (APS).
References[]
- ^ a b c "NM Museum of Space History: NASA's first woman Hispanic flight director to speak at museum". freep.com.
- ^ a b c GreatMindsInSTEM. "Ginger Kerrick". www.greatmindsinstem.org. Retrieved 2020-04-16.
- ^ Bailey, Crystal. "Physics Careers: To the Bachelor's Degree and Beyond" (PDF). American Physical Society.
- ^ Ginger, Kerrick (1 December 1993). "Infrared deep level transient spectroscopy". hdl:2346/60914. Cite journal requires
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(help) - ^ a b c "Women@NASA » Ginger Kerrick". women.nasa.gov.
- ^ a b "Ginger Kerrick - Office of the Texas Governor - Greg Abbott". gov.texas.gov.
- ^ Ginger, Kerrick; Valerie, Paton; Guy, Bailey; Katie, Allen; Bob, Smith (2017-03-09). "All Things Texas Tech (February 2011)": 22–26. Cite journal requires
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(help) - ^ a b "Ginger Kerrick". www.aps.org.
- ^ American Physical Society, Joint Fall 2012 Meeting of the Texas Sections of the APS, AAPT, and Zone 13 of the SPS, October 25–27, 2012, abstract #H1.002
- ^ a b "November 2018 – NCURA Region V". Retrieved 2020-04-17.
- ^ "SPS Public Lecture in Physics: NASA Flight Director Ginger Kerrick". www.tlu.edu. Retrieved 2020-04-17.
- Living people
- 21st-century American physicists
- American women physicists
- Texas Tech University alumni
- NASA people
- 21st-century American women