Alice Bowman gestora de operações de missão da NASA visita a Escola de Ciências

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Alice Bowman says she
always wanted a career that was exciting, technically challenging “and not the
same day in and day out.”

She certainly found
it. Whether it was the hard courses in school or the most puzzling technical
challenges at work, Bowman has never shied away from the tougher path – but
used these challenges to learn and gain new experience. Eventually, this led to
the opportunity of a lifetime: leading the mission operations team that made
history by “flying” the first spacecraft to Pluto.

Bowman, the New
Horizons mission operations manager, covers her career voyage through the scope
of NASA´s historic first mission to Pluto – which culminated with a flyby of
the distant dwarf planet on July 14, 2015. Starting with her childhood passion
of absorbing and following space news, she carried her love of science and
technology through college and into an early career that included research on
drug-delivery systems, crafting computer simulations and working with infrared
detectors that peered into the deepest reaches of outer space. Those were among
the experiences that prepared her for the challenges of New Horizons: operating
a small robotic spacecraft that had to travel farther than any mission ever to
reach its main target; planning for (and dealing with) long-distance technical
hiccups; and keeping a team focused over a decade-long operation across the solar
system. Her advice to the next generation of scientists and engineers includes:
choose a career that you have passion for; dont pass up an opportunity because
it?s outside of your comfort zone; explore and learn about different things;
know that hard work pays off; and don?t be limited by your dreams.