The Washington Times, in celebration of the Hubble Space Telescope's second anniversary of exploring the universe, wrote: “NASA scientists say their space telescopes are making a wealth of new astronomical discoveries. These include a black hole at the center of a nearby galaxy and the discovery of what some scientists are calling an entirely new type of quasar.” Everyone has heard the jokes about the “near-sighted” Hubble Space Telescope (HST), but the HST has made a number of outstanding observations, and I am very excited to be working on this project.

In December 1979, I graduated from Frostburg State College, a small college in western Maryland, with a degree in mathematics. I majored in math because of my strength in thinking analytically and my ability to do detailed work. These strengths would later prove very beneficial when I joined Bendix. Like many math graduates, I was uncertain of the type of work I could do with my math degree. I applied for many positions after graduation, from actuarial to technological support fields. For several years, I worked as a lab technician, but was unable to develop to my fullest potential at this position.

In 1988, I joined Bendix and was assigned to a NASA contract at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. I became part of the Information Processing Division, working for the Data Acquisition and Telemetry Analysis Department (DATAD). DATAD provides telemetry data evaluation, analysis, and accountability for science data received from various satellites.