海伦·林，变革者

Helen Ling, seen here in a photo from Feb. 16, 1973, was influential in the inclusion of women in STEM positions at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. After majoring in Mathematics at the University of Notre Dame—the only woman to do so at the time—Ling joined her brother in working at JPL. She became a supervisor for the computing group in the 1960s, a team who was responsible for performing trajectory calculations.

Ling encouraged women within the computing group to attend night school to earn degrees that would allow them more professional opportunities within JPL. A pioneer for women’s rights in the workplace, Helen Ling was so admired in the computing group that those who worked under her lovingly referred to themselves as “Helen’s girls.” Many of “Helen’s girls” went on to become computer scientists and engineers within JPL thanks to the mentorship and guidance of Helen Ling.

Throughout her time at JPL, Ling developed software for the IRAS, Magellan, TOPEX/Poseidon, and Mars Observer missions, and retired in 1994.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

海伦·林，1973年2月16日的照片中的她，是推动女性在NASA喷气推进实验室（JPL）担任STEM职位的关键人物。在圣母大学主修数学之后——她是当时唯一一位主修数学的女性——她和哥哥一起在喷气推进实验室工作。20世纪60年代，她成为计算组的主管，该团队负责执行轨迹计算。

林鼓励计算组的女性上夜校，以获得更多在JPL内部发展的专业机会。作为职场女性权利的先驱，海伦·林在计算组中备受尊敬，她的下属们亲切地称自己为“海伦的女孩”。在海伦·林的指导和支持下，许多“海伦的女孩”成为了JPL的计算机科学家和工程师。

在JPL期间，林为IRAS、麦哲伦、TOPEX/Poseidon和火星观察者任务开发了软件，并于1994年退休。

图片来源：NASA/JPL-Caltech