Marjorie Trees Townsend ( Rhodes; March 12, 1930 – April 4, 2015) was an American electrical engineer, and the first woman to manage a spacecraft launch for

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

Early life and education

Marjorie Trees Rhodes was born in Washington, D. C. At age 15 she started college, and was the first woman to earn an engineering degree from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

when she graduated in 1951.

Career

Early in her career, Townsend worked for the

National Institute of Standards and Technology The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...

, and at the Naval Research Laboratory. She joined

in 1959. Her early work there involved weather satellites such as TIROS-1 and Nimbus. In time she was the first woman to become a spacecraft project manager at Goddard Spaceflight Center, responsible for Uhuru, the first satellite designed for

x-ray astronomy X-ray astronomy is an observational branch of astronomy which deals with the study of X-ray observation and detection from astronomical objects. X-radiation is absorbed by the Earth's atmosphere, so instruments to detect X-rays must be taken to ...

. It was also the first American spacecraft to be launched from outside the United States, in 1970. She worked with Bruno Rossi and Nobel laureate Riccardo Giacconi on the Small Astronomy Satellite program, and went to Kenya when Uhuru was launched by the Italian space program from the San Marco platform there. Townsend retired from NASA in 1980, having received the Exceptional Service Medal and Outstanding Leadership Medal for her work. After that, she served as director of space systems engineering for BDM International, and was vice president at Space America. She retired from her private-sector work in 1996. Townsend was co-inventor of a digital telemetry system, patented in 1968, which was part of the Nimbus program weather satellite.

Honors and professional service

Marjorie Townsend was president of the Washington Academy of Sciences. She was a fellow of the

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) is an American 501(c)(3) public charity professional organization for electrical engineering, electronics engineering, and other related disciplines. The IEEE has a corporate office ...

, and chaired a local chapter of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. In 1972 she was named a Knight of the Italian Republic Order for her work on Uhuru. She was named a Distinguished Alumnus of George Washington University in 1976. In 2006 she was inducted into the Engineering Hall of Fame at her alma mater.

Personal life and legacy

Marjorie Rhodes married Charles E. Townsend Sr., a medical student, in 1948. The couple had four sons together, and lived in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington DC. Marjorie was widowed in 2001. The Marjorie Rhodes Townsend Papers are held in the Special Collections library at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Townsend, Marjorie American aerospace engineers Women aerospace engineers 20th-century American scientists 20th-century American women engineers 20th-century American women scientists American women engineers American women scientists George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni NASA people People from Cleveland Park 1930 births 2015 deaths Graduate Women in Science members