Rise of the Rocket Girls summary

It took a fair few crashes – thankfully none of them fatal – and explosions to get there, but, finally, on August 12, 1941, JPL successfully managed to reduce the length of an airplane's takeoff by 50 percent.

It was good timing, too. The United States entered World War II just a few months later, and JPL won a lucrative contract from the US Army.

Soon after JPL created the propellant mix nicknamed “Jack’s cake,” it began working on the army’s Corporal missile project. The idea was to create a guided rocket that could carry a large warhead.

But JPL didn’t stop there. While developing the missile, the JPL team used the opportunity to research advanced rockets that could one day travel even farther. They dreamt of discovery, not weaponry.

JPL’s engineers were a diverse bunch of female computers. Among them were Helen Yee Ling Chow, whose computations led to Jupiter-C’s success, and Janez Lawson, JPL’s first African-American employee. Thanks to their efforts, JPL's Jupiter-C rocket was able to break free from Earth’s gravitational pull.

But their efforts were overshadowed just a year later.

The Explorer success cemented JPL’s reputation. They became the go-to lab for space exploration.

When the US government decided the space program should be kept separate from the military, they signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act in 1958. The act created the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and JPL became one of its primary research and development groups.

Plotting a safe trajectory to Venus was hard. But it was nothing compared to the challenge of the Grand Tour. The plan was to send a probe through the entire solar system, using the planets’ gravitational pulls – all while using as little fuel as possible.

The precise calculations required for that task were astronomical in scale.

Viking 1 reached Mars on June 19, 1976, helping engineers and scientists glean previously unimaginable knowledge about Mars. This initial mission paved the way for programs in later decades, like the Mars Pathfinder and the Mars Exploration Rover missions. These led to an even deeper understanding of the mysterious red planet.

But the 1970s saw advances beyond space missions. The women’s liberation movement was also making significant contributions to gender equality.

As we’ve seen, ever since the United States first turned its explorative gaze to the stars, the women at JPL have been there, making vital contributions. Though many have since retired, their contributions are still felt.

For instance, the Deep Space Network (DSN) that Sue Finley built and maintained remains the main line of communication for US space missions.