WEBVTT - 030924 Way Black History Fact - Valerie Thomas--NASA Engineer

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<v Speaker 1>Well now you have it. It's time for the Way

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<v Speaker 1>Black History Fact. And today's Way Black History Factor is

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<v Speaker 1>sponsored by Underground Beach Club from the Streets to the Beach.

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<v Speaker 1>For the latest in beachwhere visit Underground Beach Club dot

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<v Speaker 1>com and Q. I know that you really like this story,

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<v Speaker 1>so why don't you take it this time?

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<v Speaker 2>The Way Black History Fact from Britannica dot com. Now

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<v Speaker 2>some of us are old enough to remember these very

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<v Speaker 2>very large books from Britannica, the Encyclopedia Britannica, a selection

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<v Speaker 2>of hardbound you know, books that we would use as children.

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<v Speaker 2>Shout out to Britannica for this story and for the

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<v Speaker 2>books that my mom still has at my house to

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<v Speaker 2>this day, even with us having Google. So from Britannica

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<v Speaker 2>dot com. Valerie Thomas born February eighth, nineteen forty three

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<v Speaker 2>in Baltimore, Maryland, American is scientists and inventor who, while

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<v Speaker 2>working at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration we referred

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<v Speaker 2>to as NASA, invented a way to transmit three dimensional

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<v Speaker 2>images or holograms that appeared to be real. In addition,

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<v Speaker 2>she helped to develop processing software to convert scientific data

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<v Speaker 2>captured by satellites into information that scientists could use. From

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<v Speaker 2>early age, Thomas was interested in electronics, mathematics, and physics,

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<v Speaker 2>despite the fact that girls were not encouraged to study

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<v Speaker 2>these subjects and in some cases not allowed to study

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<v Speaker 2>those subjects. Moreover, because she was African American in a

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<v Speaker 2>racially segregated society, she had fewer educational options and opportunities

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<v Speaker 2>than other students, namely white students. Nevertheless, she was academically

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<v Speaker 2>successful in high school and attended Morgan State College now

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<v Speaker 2>Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland in HBCU in nineteen

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<v Speaker 2>sixty four, she graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics.

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<v Speaker 2>Thomas subsequently began working as a data analyst at NASA.

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<v Speaker 2>One of her early roles was analyzing data from the

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<v Speaker 2>Orbiting Geo Geophysical Observatory I'm Sorry, a series of scientific

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<v Speaker 2>satellites that the United States launched in the nineteen sixties.

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<v Speaker 2>In nineteen seventies, Thomas helped develop the image processing system

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<v Speaker 2>for NASA's Landsat, a program involving unscrewed scientific satellites designed

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<v Speaker 2>to collect information about Earth's natural resources. The satellites carried

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<v Speaker 2>various types of cameras, including those with infrared sensors. Thomas

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<v Speaker 2>served as a leader of the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment,

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<v Speaker 2>a program that research and developed ways to monitor wheat

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<v Speaker 2>yields around the world using lansat images. In nineteen seventy six,

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<v Speaker 2>Thomas became intrigued by three D illusions after viewing a

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<v Speaker 2>demonstration in which a light bulb seemed to stay lit

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<v Speaker 2>even after being removed from a lamp. The illusion was

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<v Speaker 2>created by means of a concave mirror, reflecting a second

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<v Speaker 2>light bulb and experimenting, and she soon invented illusion transmitter,

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<v Speaker 2>for which she received a patent in nineteen eighty. The

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<v Speaker 2>transmission system uses a video recorder to take pictures of

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<v Speaker 2>a floating image in front of a concave mirror. The

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<v Speaker 2>video image is set to set to a second image,

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<v Speaker 2>which projects the image in front of a second concave mirror.

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<v Speaker 2>The process creates the optical illusion of a three D image.

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<v Speaker 2>NASA subsequently used the technology in some of its satellites

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<v Speaker 2>and applications. In two thousand and four, Thomas received a

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<v Speaker 2>doctor written Educational Leadership from the University of Delaware. Throughout

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<v Speaker 2>her life, she encouraged young people especially African Americans and girls,

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<v Speaker 2>to pursue science education. She was an active STEM organization

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<v Speaker 2>organizer I'm Sorry, and involved herself with organizations such as

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<v Speaker 2>the Women in Science and Engineering Shades of Blue, which

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<v Speaker 2>focuses on aviation aerospace, and also worked as a substitute teacher.

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<v Speaker 2>Is still alive at eighty one years old. I think

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<v Speaker 2>we should reach out to her.