NASA hasn’t been doing so well in the public relations department lately, if you hadn’t heard. George Deutsch, Lisa Nowak, budget cuts, some odd management decisions… NASA could use a PR boost.
The funny thing is, when they try it themselves they tend to screw it up. Many are the times that manned spaceflight PR from NASA comes across as, well, uncool. Unhip. Square. Not every time, of course, but sometimes I watch the press conferences for the space station, for the Shuttle, for the Moon intitiative, and I cringe. I know that in some manners NASA has lost its way, but I wonder what they can do to recapture that feeling of zest, of adventure, of can-do.
Then something comes along, something that brings those feelings back. Something that is honest, and good, and feels right.
Enter Damaris Sarria. She’s a young aerospace engineer for Boeing who works at the Kennedy Space Center. She wants to be an astronaut, and she decided to document her voyage on a blog, How I Am Becoming An Astronaut.
She is a wonder. Cheerful, dynamic, energetic, enthusiastic, and seemingly honest about her mission: to fly in space. "It’s my ultimate goal, my dream" she says, and reading her writing, I believe her.
NASA can’t buy that kind of PR. But I think that’s a good thing. Let Ms. Sarria do this on her own, untouched by the PR machine. She benefits by being honest, we benefit by reading about her life, and NASA benefits too. She makes them look good.
But most of all, she makes me feel good. She reminds me of why I like space exploration in the first place. It’s cool, it’s fun, and it’s exciting. I hope she does become an astronaut, and I hope she keeps on telling us all about it.
Update (March 23): In a weird coincidence, Ms. Sarria’s blog is featured in a Florida Today article today. Nice timing!
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Too cool. It’s difficult not to admire that kind of public dedication.
March 22nd, 2007 at 8:28 pm
And she might even be a hottie. As long as she isn’t also insane, that could be VERY good for NASA in terms of drawing favourable attention.
March 22nd, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Very nice. I’m pleased to add Ms. Sarria’s blog to my bookmarks.
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
lemme know when she’s above cali, i’ll wave!
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:43 pm
But most of all, she makes me feel good.
I hope your wife isn’t a regular reader of your blog….
March 22nd, 2007 at 11:43 pm
Maybe someday we’ll see that smiling face from behind a visor, as she waves to the camera from the Northern rim of Hellas basin.
March 23rd, 2007 at 12:39 am
Sending good-looking women like that up into space is excellent PR.
Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics [http://www.qwantz.com/index.pl?comic=936] expressed it excellently: Return to the moon, and don’t forget the chicks this time!
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:16 am
Makes me want to be an astronaut too.
March 23rd, 2007 at 2:16 am
But by the time NASA’s astronauts are going anywhere interesting, say, by 2030 or so, will she still be young enough to fly?
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:35 am
I hope she becomes an astronaut as well! People with that kind of passion deserve a chance.
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:44 am
Neat stuff!
I grew up in Titusville, right across the Indian River from the Space Center and had the good fortune to see every Apollo launch just by going to to my granparents house (you could see the VAB from their front yard). Seeing Ms. Damaris talk about all of this stuff brings back LOTS of memories of growing up around all of this.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:50 am
You should really quit trying to get diggs and switch to reddit. You would have a much better reception of your content. Or at least do both.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:55 am
DavidHW, many astronauts are in their 40s and 50s. She is apparently mid-20s now. In 20 yrs, she will be mid-40′s. And don’t forget Shannon Lucid, who flew on Mir at 53 and is still in the program at 67.
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:15 am
But what’s with the Laura Petrie hair? NASA can’t get too
with the times, ay?
Oh well, sex sells, doesn’t it?
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:27 am
Could we see a few more pictures? How about a calendar? I nominate her for Ms February. Also, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, and December (Leaving January for the nominee of your choice). And she has brains, too? Oh, my.
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:14 am
Am I the only one who finds a lot of these comments horribly condescending, if not downright sexist? She is very pretty, but I don’t see these comments about male astronauts.
Hottie? Calendar? Mis. Frebruary, Laura Petrie hair?
Jeeez, what year is this?
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:18 am
I dithered over putting up her picture, since I knew it would generate some comments. Folks, I put the picture up because, well, because sometimes when I link to other peoples’ blogs I put a picture of them up if there is no logo, and that’s the picture on her site. Sure, she’s pretty, but can we get past that please? She’s young, enthusiastic, and passionate about her career. That’s why I linked to her.
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:31 am
This is awesome.
She sounds upbeat, enthusiastic, intelligent, and optimistic.
Those are all things the whole country needs right now, not just NASA.
Hooray for blogging!
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:39 am
Test, test, I keep getting a request for a userid and password/
Gary 7
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:42 am
Ok, that worked.
They say beauty is in the eye of,,,
I think it has more to do with health than anything else.
That was true before plastic surgury.
I have to say, she looks really HEALTHY to me,,,
GAry 7
March 23rd, 2007 at 8:57 am
I think this can be summed up by Phil saying “but most of all, she makes me FEEL good.”
Call me cynical, but if she looked like Shrek would she have merited the attention?
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 am
Young, enthusiastic, passionate and SMART!! The sexiest organ is the brain. Her blog is a joy to read… and those photos are really cool!
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:43 am
“Sure, she’s pretty, but can we get past that please? She’s young, enthusiastic, and passionate about her career. That’s why I linked to her.”
So you wouldn’t encourage her to pose naked for a calender to show how smart she is then? Because, you know I hear that’s what all the smart people are doing these days.
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:37 am
I’ve seen her website before and try to check it out now and then. Lucky that she has gotten as far as she has. I would have loved to do that myself.
But….colorblind, formerly bad vision (thanks Lasik!), and 5 tries at passing Calculus in school counted me out of ever being an astronaut hopeful. Oh well….Florida is to humid for me anyway!
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:20 am
When I first saw the picture (I always check out the pictures before reading the article, a picture says more than a thousand words), I thought that BA had written something about the girl from the Twisted Sister video “Oh Come All Ye Faithful” (after she let her hair down).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=De47fjH6RKY
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:32 am
Why did Phil put up her photos? Cause he’s part of a dying
breed, namely straight males who actually prefer women.
But Phil – Won’t Emily Lakwadala get jealous?
And don’t anybody kid themselves that a big part of the reason
she has gotten as far as she has is her looks. And she knows it,
too. Same with Nowak.
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:50 am
Wow, what a weird collection of comments.
Dolouz– yes, she would. If you read what I wrote again, I talk about her enthusiasm and excitement. I don’t say I linked to her because she’s pretty.
M– No, and why would I? You assume that the only reason I would link to a woman’s site is because she’s pretty? Or are you confusing my promotion of a calendar celebrating both physical and mental beauty (of both men and women) with a sexism I don’t actually possess?
John23: Wow. I mean, wow. Here we have someone who is articulate, enthusiastic, intelligent (they don’t give away aerospace engineering degrees at Texas A&M), and you think she gets by on her looks? And "Dying breed"? Wow.
I knew posting her picture would generate some odd comments, but this is well past what I expected.
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:37 pm
It was not an insult to you, Phil. I was just happy to see
that there are a few males left who like women exclusively.
And yes I am sure she is talented, smart, etc., but are you
really surprised that her looks didn’t get her anywhere, or
that the guys on this forum wouldn’t respond accordingly?
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Check out this photo of her:
http://bp2.blogger.com/_2GWFK9y2SJo/Rd0TjOIbSwI/AAAAAAAAAGk/GLZam_dONpg/s1600-h/damaris3.JPG
As they used to say on Wayne’s World – SHAAAWIIIING!
Yeah, we’re really interested in her mind. Uh huh.
March 23rd, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Wow! Such an array of comments from everyone! First of all, thank you Phil for posting my blog and thank you also to those who have visited my site and left kind comments. As for the other comments, I feel some are missing the point as to why Phil linked to my blog, but everyone is entitled an opinion. But for those who looked past a picture and visited my site, I hope it has intrigued you or inspired you to work towards a goal you want!
March 23rd, 2007 at 5:48 pm
“I was just happy to see
that there are a few males left who like women exclusively.”
I have 2 things to say about that:
1) What a ridiculous comment
2) Why does it matter?
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:03 pm
I dunno if any of you are also into car racing but it seems to me that this astronaut candidate creates buzz for the same reason that Danika Patrick creates buzz on the racing circuit. She is attractive but she is also a terrific driver! Ms Sarria creates a minor sensation for the same reason, she is attractive but I think more than that, she is qualified. Qualifying for astronaut training is no small thing, as a lot of you probably know. We can appreciate her looks without forgetting that she is probably significantly smarter than most of us put together
)
And more power to her, by the way. I wish her all the luck in the world.
March 23rd, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Thanks for the post, BA. I bookmarked her site. I also showed it to my 13 year-old daughter. This is the kind of role model that a lot of kids should see.
I certainly hope to be able to watch her achieve her dream of going to space!
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:04 pm
So next time we’ll feature some hot looking space guys, right?
Damarris, you go girl! Just stay away from those stud astronauts -
they’ll only make you end up driving 900 miles wearing a wig and
a diaper!
March 23rd, 2007 at 7:40 pm
Are these comments for real? Phil, please put up pictures of Chris Mooney, Brian Cox, and Daniel Holz (to name three off the top of my head), so I can make some snarky comments about how they must have gotten where they are because of their good looks. (rolls eyes) Plenty of studies have been done showing that attractiveness does affect employability (in all jobs), but people have to pass the same tests, the same SATs, LSATs, GMATs, flight tests, Bar exams, and so on, and no one is seeing the test taker. Get real. And Emily has a husband, new baby, and loads of knowledge swirling around in her head that women should look up to her – she’s got a cool job.
That is a very nice picture of Damaris, and there’s nothing wrong with appreciating smart and attractive people, but she’s actually just normal and natural looking. (We can all gussy up when we want to.) See an article in Florida Today about her (picture included). And Nowak isn’t especially pretty – have you read her resume? What a weirdo you are, John23.
I looked at Damaris’s blog yesterday, and I think it’s great that she’s pursuing her dream. It’s very competitive to become an astronaut, but even if she never makes the cut, the journey be will satisfying and rewarding anyway. Having taken pictures around KSC, I gotta say I envy those inside VAB pictures and close access to the launch pads – cool! She’s got some great insider photos and access to a lot of smart and dedicated people, so I hope that further feeds her ambitions. She’s only 25 years old…more power to her! Go Damaris!
Oh, and I thought Robert Crippen was the cutest astronaut of yore – I guess they let him command a shuttle because of his good looks…. [/sarcasm off]
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Was there a comment deleted, or am I just missing it? I don’t see the comment where someone suggests she is getting by on her looks. There are comments that say her good looks are good for NASA PR, but that’s a fact – it’s also a fact for male astronauts too, but there isn’t a picture of one of them at the top of the page.
Have we really become so perverted in the name of political correctness that we can’t call a photogenic person pretty?
Give it a rest Daffy et al.
March 23rd, 2007 at 9:19 pm
“You assume that the only reason I would link to a woman’s site is because she’s pretty?”
Not at all – I think you are quite right to link to her site. She is an amazing young woman. I do wonder whether you would have put up a picture were she male, but that’s beside the point.
“Or are you confusing my promotion of a calendar celebrating both physical and mental beauty (of both men and women) with a sexism I don’t actually possess?”
I fail to see how supposedly intelligent people being photographed naked showcases their “mental beauty”. What are the entry requirements for this gig? It seems that the calender celebrates only physical beauty. In what sense does it celebrate mental beauty?
There are plenty of other ways to raise money and awareness that don’t focus on physical traits. Surely there are better ways to raise money for a party?
March 23rd, 2007 at 10:21 pm
Evolving Squid, I quoted the comment that said that. Did you not see my post?
March 23rd, 2007 at 11:56 pm
Hmm… Is it just me who’s missing the obvious ? As someone who is promoting engineering and astronautics (and, presumably, the scientific method), why is it that the second item Dmaris lists in her Profile is her astrological sign: Virgo ? Oh dear !
(Perhaps we need a “BAD ASTROLOGY” website ?)
March 24th, 2007 at 1:39 am
To Podster: Because she is using blogger.com, when you put in your birth date in your profile it shows your astrological sign. Which is why I haven’t included my birth date in my profile.
March 24th, 2007 at 11:18 am
The process of becoming an astronaut is a years long ordeal filled with physical and mental stress, exhilaration, disappointment, politics, personalities, bureaucracy, etc. I would love to read of her experiences as she works her way through it, but I fully expect NASA to shut down her blog if it gets too personal or detailed.
March 24th, 2007 at 4:58 pm
Its disturbing to me that the vast majority of these comments revolve around Damaris’s looks. As an space program engineer myself, I can assure you the majority of young women who work at NASA are indeed also attractive, just like the young men are. Why is this so surprising and seemingly worthy of comment? You are all behaving like women engineers usually have the appearances of a wrinkled old wart covered toad! Its totally natural to put a flattering picture of oneself on the blog. I noticed Phil’s picture is also prominently displayed on this blog, yet we’re not filling up the blog with comments like “HEY, Phil is so hot! If astronomers were always this hot people would be interested in learning about red shifts, telescopes, and why a flag can look like its waving on the moon! No wonder he gets such great speaking assignments and so much attention.”
Or has NASA’s PR gotten so bad that you’ve just assumed up to this point everyone who works there is ugly because the official news from the agency is disturbingly boring? And what does an engineer’s looks have to do with the future of the space program?
March 25th, 2007 at 3:33 am
It seems she will fit nicely into Our plans to colonize and populate Mars with scientists from earth. Yesssss
March 25th, 2007 at 4:59 am
Becca is right to be disturbed by all the attention paid to Damaris’s looks. It is true that intelligence should be much more important than looks. However, for better or worse, our society has historically assumed that beauty and brains are mutually exclusive traits. (eg, the attidude that models are hot, but stupid. Cindy Crawford and Tyra Banks are excellent counter-examples.) It’s neither right nor fair, but that is the way it is.
Personally, I prefer women with both traits simultaneously. For my part, smarts combined with looks comprise beauty. After all, I want my kids to be successful, both in economic and reproductive terms.
Having just read her blog, she is definitely a beauty, per my criteria.
Damaris, Keep up the excellent work! I hope you make it!!
March 26th, 2007 at 6:21 am
For all the women commenting on here who are either clueless
to the following fact or are pretending to be deflect from the
issue: Most of the males here and in the various space programs
and groups in general are geeks, got it? That means they flip
out over anything even remotely female that happens to show
even the vaguest interest in space. And if the said females
approach anything even resembling attractive – look out.
And let me hear from the women who go after the geeks first
for their incredible minds – yeah right. Women are more like
men than they would care to admit, especially when it comes
to the dating/mating game.
Don’t worry, geek guys – once the women have had their fun
and frolicked with the studs, say in their early 30s when the
biological clocks are starting to give off warning alarms, these
same women will settle down with the males that offer the most
stability and security. They will deny this, of course, but just
watch and see what women go with in their 20s and then in
their 30s. By their 40s, just about anything will do cause that
clock is already wearing out its batteries.
March 26th, 2007 at 6:50 am
John23, are you totally divorced from reality? Or do you just have a latent hatred of women?
You’re promoting a stereotype that those (males and females) interested in science and space exploration are normally unattractive, and those that aren’t are an exception. This is just patently untrue.
You’re also implying that most attractive women do not have an interest in “geeky” subjects like astronomy and space exploration and that such an occurance is a rarity. This is false.
And what’s it with statements like “once the women have had their fun
and frolicked with the studs, say in their early 30s when the
biological clocks are starting to give off warning alarms…?”
Now, since you seem to so freely speculate on the motivations of people who are not yourself, I could hypothesize the life experiences you must have gone through to arrive at such a sexist conclusion, but I will refrain because that would be crude and inappropriate, like every post you’ve made on this thread.
I wish Damaris Sarria the best of luck with her goal. And not just for herself, she is helping to inspire the next generation of scientists, engineers, and astronauts!
March 26th, 2007 at 9:40 am
How typical of this blog, its editor, and it’s readers: the moment you mention a female, you all devolve to your base geek and dweeb tendencies. And the editor leaves this all online as if to condone this behavior.
March 26th, 2007 at 11:15 am
Skepted56, I have been kind and only truthful.
Apparently we do live in separate realities cause the one
I am in had a high school and college where I saw most
of the women go for the studs, even though so many of
them were often crude, stupid, and sometimes just plain
violent to women. But they were studs, that’s all that
mattered.
Did you see the ABC reality show The Average Joe? Even
though some of the geeks were clearly better than the
himbos (one said he didn’t have any books because he
wasn’t into reading), the woman who had to choose between
the 2 groups of course chose the himbo, who had the
personality of cardboard but I don’t think she was staring
and wondering at that part of his anatomy.
Glad you live in this wonderful nirvana where people are
judged on their merits and intelligence. Funny, in my world,
it’s the good looking idiots who seem to seize the day around
here.
This Dimaris is apparently an exception, but don’t anyone
give me this b-s that if she were plain she’d be featured or
discussed.
You’re all a bunch of monkeys with animal instincts, despite
your pretensions otherwise.
March 26th, 2007 at 1:18 pm
Wow, I really blew that stereotype out of the water at 16, 17 , and 18! ((-8~
John23intelligence alone is not enough. Looks alone are not enough. Your stereotypical thinking is unfortunate. Again, that picture of Damaris is very nice, but in other pictures she is plain looking. There are also a lot of other attractive women at KSC (or the like) – I’ve seen them in their videos. Naturally, one wants to put a “best” picture forward, and Phil chose a great picture of her. She looks very pretty, yes. And why not put a good picture up of her? I’d certainly do the same for myself. And as far as “clocks ticking,” you make an assumption, again, that women are running on clocks – for what? Marriage? Kids? Some women don’t want these things, but life is relatively short. So, knock off that chip on your shoulder and learn to know people, not compartmentalizations of them – you dig? If this is how you relate to people in “real” life, then consider how many people you turned off, no? Maybe?
March 27th, 2007 at 7:10 am
Reader, would you rather have “the editor” blatantly alter or censor what’s written here? If some people want to be silly with their comments, that’s a reflection on those particular people. Leaving the comments up may look to you like someone’s condoning that sort of behavior, but to me it sends a clear signal that (barring diliberately malicious or ad hominem comments) one can post hear without fear of their comments–serious AND silly alike–being edited, twisted, or outright eliminated.
And to everyone who thinks that some of the comments are silly: yes they are. And they are bordering on offensive, IF one is sensitive to gender-based stereotypes. But the fact that on March 22, 2007, MS SARRIA HERSELF posted a comment with more grace than hurling insults at those posters with less maturity than others speaks volumes about how the rest of us should be reacting to this whole thing.
March 27th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
I hope John23 is just playing Devil’s Advocate, because one could easily conclude that he(?) is a….uhm, well, let’s just say that MY mom taught me better than to make gross generalizations, not to be outright insulting, not to engage in gender stereotyping….