Exonian Profiles
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Eleanor Ketchum Silverman ’82: Space-Age
Problem Solver
You could say that NASA engineer Eleanor Ketchum Silverman ’82 solves problems in space and on earth. When she slips on her lab coat, Silverman is chief engineer on a NASA project that will, when completed, monitor changes in the mass of ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica from space. Together with her 100-member team at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Silverman has spent the past four years designing, building and testing the Geoscience Laser Altimeter System—or GLAS for short. In addition to monitoring the polar ice caps, GLAS will also help scientists collect data on changes in weather, atmosphere and the ozone layer. It was Exeter, says Silverman, that nurtured her love of a challenge, “something that has come in handy throughout my life, from the space program to parenting.” When the lab coat comes off, Silverman begins her second shift and turns her attention to her husband, Michael, and their 1-year-old daughter, Samantha. Silverman and her team of technical experts collaborated with a separate scientific team to develop a strategic plan for GLAS. “As lead engineer, I’m responsible for the day-to-day operations as well as the big picture,” says Silverman. “We actually designed and built GLAS in-house, which is unusual because NASA normally contracts to outside firms. This is important to us, because we like to foster industry too.” GLAS weighs slightly more than 700 pounds and includes three high-powered lasers, sensitive detectors, a telescope, a cylindrical sunshade, star cameras for navigation and an electronics box that controls everything from data collection to thermal conditions. GLAS will use the high-powered lasers to measure changes in ice cap mass: “The laser bounces off the ice, comes back through the telescope, to the detectors, and the electronics box collects the data,” Silverman explains. With a target launch date of next December, testing of GLAS has been grueling. “Sometimes I spend 16 hours a day at this,” says Silverman. When testing is finished, GLAS will be delivered to Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, where it will be launched into space on a Delta rocket spacecraft, which will orbit the earth. Given her present responsibilities, it’s surprising to hear Silverman say that while she always enjoyed math, she “was not a great science student.” She was, however, perseverant, a message she likes to share with female math and science students, like those she addressed at Exeter’s Science Focus Group in 1997. “I just stuck with it until it finally clicked,” says Silverman, who serves as vice president for the class of ’82 and as a regional association officer in Maryland. “You don’t have to be a whiz in math or science. You just have to have determination.” Silverman went on to earn her B.A. in math from William and Mary, an M.S. from Johns Hopkins and a D.Sc. in astronautics from George Washington University. “I have really enjoyed my 15-year engineering career at NASA,” Silverman says, “but I am also especially happy at home with my daughter, Samantha, who is so much fun and makes me laugh.” Whether working on a technical space project or having fun with her family, Silverman says her “key to life is having a good sense of humor.” Asked if she has any final thoughts, Silverman shares a little of that humor: “Say hello to the girls in Wheelwright Hall and remind my classmates of their 20th reunion. Oh, and be sure to say, ‘Hi Mom!’ ” —Alice Ann Gray |
