佩妮·J·佩蒂格鲁，NASA马歇尔太空飞行中心国际空间站有效载荷通信经理
As a NASA payload communications manager, or PAYCOM, Penny J. Pettigrew spends most days in the Payload Operations Integration Center at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, communicating with coworkers some 250 miles overhead – the astronauts conducting scientific research aboard the International Space Station, as shown in this image from 2017.
In 1989, Pettigrew, a space program enthusiast from an early age, attended Space Camp at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville, an experience which opened her eyes to all the opportunities in the “Rocket City.” She began pursuing her childhood dream in earnest when she attended the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, where she earned her undergraduate degree in Chemistry in 1992. In 1996, she received her Master’s degree in Chemistry, with a specialty in Microgravity Materials Science, from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. After achieving her master’s degree, she received a NASA Graduate Student Research Scholarship to spend the next three years conducting applied materials science research at Marshall.
Beginning in 2000, she went to work for a series of aerospace firms in Huntsville, all supporting NASA and Marshall. Pettigrew joined NASA full time in 2008 and found her true calling three years later when she joined “the cadre” – the flight controllers who monitor research on the space station around the clock, seven days a week, 365 days per year at the Payload Operations Integration Center.
Pettigrew continues to share her story with the next generation of scientists and explorers in hopes of encouraging them to dream big and reach for the stars!
#WomensHistoryMonth
Image Credit: NASA/Emmett Given
作为美国宇航局的有效载荷通信经理，即PAYCOM，佩妮·J·佩蒂格鲁(Penny J. Pettigrew)大部分时间都在阿拉巴马州亨茨维尔的美国宇航局马歇尔太空飞行中心的有效载荷操作集成中心，与头顶约250英里处的同事–在国际空间站上进行科学研究的宇航员进行交流，如2017年的这张图片所示。
1989年，从小就热衷于太空计划的佩蒂格鲁参加了位于亨茨维尔的美国太空与火箭中心的太空营，这次经历让她看到了 “火箭之城 “的所有机会。1992年，她就读于位于戈尔登的科罗拉多矿业学校(Colorado School of Mines)，并在那里获得了化学专业的本科学位，开始认真追求儿时的梦想。1996年，她在亨茨维尔的阿拉巴马大学获得了化学硕士学位，主修微重力材料科学。在取得硕士学位后，她获得了美国宇航局研究生研究奖学金，在接下来的三年时间里，她在马歇尔大学进行应用材料科学研究。
从2000年开始，她到亨茨维尔的一系列航空航天公司工作，这些公司都支持NASA和马歇尔公司。佩蒂格鲁在2008年正式加入了NASA，三年后，当她进入了”核心”——在有效载荷操作集成中心每周7天、每年365天全天候监控空间站研究的飞行控制员时，她找到了自己真正的使命。
佩蒂格鲁将继续与下一代科学家和探险家分享她的故事，希望鼓励他们做大梦，向星空进发!
#WomensHistoryMonth
图片来源：NASA/Emmett Given
