Post #2054362
2022-12-30 19:52 UTC
Yvonne Madelaine Brill was born #OTD in 1924. She was a rocket scientist who invented the hydrazine resistojet, which increased the payload capacity of satellites by reducing the weight of propellant they require. JWST uses hydrazine thrusters!
Photo: W. McNamee/Getty
Replies (1)
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@mcnees@mastodon.social 2022-12-30 20:00
Yvonne Madelaine Brill studied Chemistry and Math at the University of Manitoba. She wanted to study engineering, but women weren't allowed at the time. She initially worked at Douglass Aircraft. By the mid-40s, she was believed to be the only woman in the US working as a rocket scientist. (At least, that’s the claim in this 2013 obituary in the Toronto Sun.) https://torontosun.com/2013/03/30/pioneer-canadian-rocket-scientist-dead-at-age-88