Photograph by Skye Dunlap

Countdown to Success: Nicole Chubb is designing a website for the Young Women of NASA Advisory Council.




The Final Frontier

Foundation helps launch girls into high-tech careers--including space travel

By Kara Chalmers

The night before the planned launch of Columbia, the first space shuttle ever commanded by a woman, mission commander Eileen M. Collins wasn't the only one who was nervous.

Nicole Chubb, a junior at Presentation High School in Willow Glen, was practically hyperventilating as she got ready for the pre-launch dinner and conference at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, says teacher and chaperone Adrienne Renner.

Chubb was accompanied by Bonnie Cameron, also from Presentation, and Laurie Cox of Monta Vista High School in Cupertino. The girls' trip was sponsored by the Garnett Foundation, which aims to increase representation of women in science and technology. As members of the foundation's Backyard Project for high school girls, Chubb, Cameron and Cox were invited to attend the launch and hang out with women astronauts for five days prior to the launch.

Chubb knew that at the pre-launch festivities she would meet distinguished women such as first lady Hillary Clinton; Donna Shalala; Sally Ride, the first American woman in space; Ellen Ochoa, the first Latina woman in space; heads of major companies and organizations; and many editors-in-chief of women's and girls' magazines.

Renner tried to calm Chubb's nerves by explaining that the invited guests and panelists were all just people--no different than the two of them. Chubb replied: "But they have all done so much."

And Renner had a ready answer. "You just haven't gotten there yet."

It's true that Chubb, 16, may have a way to go before commanding her own space mission, but she has definitely taken some steps toward fulfilling her future goals.

She, Cox and Cameron are three of the charter members of a nascent organization, the Young Women of NASA Advisory Council. Just before the trip, the council held its very first meeting, at a San Raphael company called Girl Tech, which manufactures technological toys for young girls. Chubb is designing the group's website, which will feature a page devoted to the launch, interviews with women in high-tech careers and resources for young women who aspire to such careers.

"[The council] lets girls out there know that there are so many opportunities and that careers in science and technology are an option," Laurie Cox says.

The young women's involvement with the Backyard Project has allowed them to explore careers in high-tech by learning computer programming, presentation and networking skills, and meeting Silicon Valley women who work in the industry.

Although Chubb took Renner's advanced computer class at school, where she learned all about megabytes and gigabytes, she taught herself HTML and designed her own webpage about her favorite television show, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The site features a photo gallery, a survey of what fans would like to see happen on the show and Chubb's own reviews.

Cox, who spends her summers working full time at her father's microbiology firm, will be a member of her school's robotics club next year. Earlier this summer, she traveled to Tijuana, Mexico, to help build a house for a needy family.

Chubb is a class officer on the student council, and a member of the honor society at Presentation. She belongs to a club that mentors the eighth-graders at her school, and this past year she coached the seventh-grade basketball team, after she realized she enjoyed coaching more than playing.

In college, Chubb says, she plans to major in engineering, and maybe go to dental school, while Cox is still deciding between microbiology and mechanical engineering with a focus in robotics.

But their involvement with the Backyard Project and Young Women of NASA has taken them down a totally different career path--journalism.


Photograph courtesy of The Backyard Project

Sister Ship: First Lady Hillary Clinton was one of the luminaries Nicole Chubb (right) met at the pre-launch conference.




At the launch, the young women's official title was "reporter," and Renner says their video cameras, laptops and tape recorders practically took over their hotel room.

"Our goal is to get all this information and hopefully spread it," Cox says.

Their work will eventually be displayed on the Backyard Project's website (www.backyard.org) and the website for the Women of NASA (http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/women). During the NASA trip, the young women heard lots of advice from astronauts about how they got to where they are. They said it was inspiring to meet so many women who had gone so far in their fields.

"It gives me a good feeling about my future to know there are people like them out there," says Cox.

"If they got there, you can get there, too," adds Chubb, echoing Renner's encouraging sentiments.

The girls were also taken on a tour of the mission control center and saw where the spacecraft is put together. They attended a panel on gender differences in thinking and a workshop on how to overcome stress and fear in space. As Collins and her crew boarded the bus that would take them to the launch site, Chubb, Cameron and Cox were right there waving good-bye.

Unfortunately, the launch was scrubbed due to engine problems. A second launch attempt 48 hours later was cancelled as well, because of bad weather. The girls' flight left the next day, so the troupe missed out on actually seeing the shuttle take off.

"It was really disappointing to miss the launch twice," Chubb says, "but overall the trip was really great. It did kind of take away from the experience, but we met a lot of people who were interested in our cause and we still learned a lot."

At any rate, Renner reports that Nicole Chubb's pre-launch conference jitters turned out to be unfounded. She said all three girls were outgoing and personable, and weren't shy at all around the VIPs.

"They have natural leadership skills," Renner says. "They just carried themselves so well."

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