February 22, 2017 The Skanner BLACK HISTORY EDITION Page 5
Black History
Joan Higginbotham: Her Passion for Math and
Science Led to Outer Space
By Rushawn Walters
Howard University News
Service
WASHINGTON — During
grade school growing up in
Chicago, Joan Higginbotham
said, she always enjoyed math
and science. That led to her
love for electronics as a young,
inquisitive girl.
“I was fascinated with elec-
tronics. I used to mess around
with things at home,” Higgin-
botham said.
Ultimately, her fascination
with math, science and elec-
tronics led to her desire to be-
come an electrical engineer,
which ultimately led to NASA
and a trip to outer space about
a space shuttle.
“I wanted to be very good at
my job and for people to see me
as very competent,” she said.
After graduating high school
in 1982, Higginbotham re-
ceived a bachelor’s of science
degree in electrical and elec-
tronics engineering five years
later from Southern Illinois
University. She then set her
sights on working for IBM,
where she had interned for
two summers. There was just
one problem, she said. IBM
wasn’t looking for any electri-
cal engineers at the time.
NASA, on the other hand,
was.
“Unbeknownst to me, they
got all our résumés and out
of the blue one day a manager
called me up and offered me
a choice of two positions at
Kennedy Space Center,” she re-
called.
Higginbotham said she ini-
tially thought the job offer was
a prank, but she soon realized
it was the real deal. She began
her career and new life at the
Kennedy Space Center as a
payload electrical engineer in
the Electrical and Telecommu-
nications Systems Division.
“
she had no plans of becoming
an astronaut.
“I was very content,” she re-
called, “and I kept on getting
promotions and moving up the
ladder. One day, my manager
suggested to me that I’d make a
good astronaut.”
She eventually applied and
was selected as an astronaut
candidate and began training
in August 1996.
After over a decade of train-
ing, Higginbotham, along with
the rest of the six crewmem-
bers of the space shuttle Dis-
covery, took off on Dec. 9, 2006.
Her experience, she says,
was inde-
scribable.
“It was
incredi-
ble,” she
said. “It
is
just
one of those things that you
absolutely have to experience
yourself. “I was sitting with
Christer Fuglesang and anoth-
er crewmember, and when we
took off, we joined our hands
and raised them in joy and eu-
phoria.”
During her 12 days in space,
Higginbotham’s assignment
was to operate the robotic arm
space shuttle. The robotic arm
is used to hold crew members
‘When we took off, we joined
our hands and raised them
in joy and euphoria’
Her job entailed reconfig-
uring the cargo in the Space
Shuttle, commonly called the
payload. Her job included cal-
culating the weight of the ac-
tual spacecraft, for all shuttle
missions and conducting elec-
trical compatibility tests for
all payloads flown aboard the
shuttle.
Higginbotham had finally
reached her goal of becoming
an electrical engineer. She said
while doing work
in space and to
move cargo, such
as satellites.
“It was probably
one of my tensest
moments because
you have this huge
piece of equipment
with this 70-foot
long arm worth
billions of dollars,”
she said. “You had a
precious life at the
end of the arm. So,
you’re just tense
the entire time and
really focused on
what you’re doing.”
After her career
Astronaut Joan Higginbotham
with NASA, Higgin-
botham switched
parents.
gears and worked in the oil in-
Higginbotham credits her
dustry and is currently work- close-knit family with her
ing for hardware store chain drive to keep striving for the
Lowe’s as director of supplier best.
diversity, which ensures that
“They were my biggest inspi-
the more of business’ suppli- ration,” she said. “I have an in-
ers are minority-owned and credible mom, dad and siblings
woman-owned.
who were always supportive
Higginbotham said she nev- of me. As a black female astro-
er planned to become a role naut, I hope my life shows oth-
model or to even make history. er women of color they don’t
Instead, she said, she lives her need to be pigeonholed into a
life according to three prin- particular career, but they can
ciples: being a good person, pretty much do whatever they
being a productive citizen and want.”
trying not to embarrass her