LAUSR

Abstract The author reported for duty 51 years ago, in the summer of 1968, to the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, one month after graduating with honors from the University of Maryland. Her position was entry level Aerospace Technologist (AST), within the Data Operations Branch of the Manned Flight Planning and Analysis Division. Her duties included the testing and development of the Goddard Real Time System (GRTS) to assure operational readiness for Apollo missions, beginning with Apollo 7. Her role in Apollo 11 was to operate the GRTS to record radar data from the Manned Space Flight Network (MSFN) tracking sites and use this data to update the orbit and send out acquisition messages to the MSFN. The author's fondest memory of the Apollo program, especially Apollo 11, was that, with less than one year of Government service, she had the opportunity to work among the “giants” of NASA to contribute to the success of something that had never been done before. The awe and wonder of Apollo continued past the moon landing in 1969, through the entire program, including the Apollo-Soyuz Test Program in 1975. The “Apollo Mentality” guided the author through 46 years at NASA, encompassing the highs of camaraderie and the lows of discrimination. The camaraderie lasted one year until a manager asked why she was not pregnant. Thus began the discrimination, more specifically gender harassment. This paper addresses how the “girl” accommodated the conflicting behaviors through the lens of the “Apollo Mentality” during her NASA tenure.