The images transmitted by the giant “James Webb” telescope, last Tuesday, depicted one of the most important historical moments in the world of knowledge of the universe, and space discoveries, which constitute a new opening in this science.
As the world watched this historic event, dazzled by the high-resolution, full-color images of space, women at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland were explaining the images on behalf of the NASA space station.
The “Washington Post” newspaper says about these women researchers, that the moment formed a special emotional event for them after they accompanied the journey of manufacturing the giant telescope that traveled a million miles to transmit these images.
Astrophysicist Jane Rugby, involved in the NASA Operations Project for the Webb Telescope, remembered the moment she first saw images of a standard star from the telescope, the first time she realized how well the observatory was working, she told the newspaper.
Iraqi Diana Al-Sindi
But among the names of these researchers, the newspaper highlighted the name of Diana Al-Sindi, an intern at NASA, who studied chemical engineering at the University of California, San Diego, and who accompanied the giant telescope journey since it was still under construction.
I am thrilled to announce that I have joined @blueorigin as a Fluids Systems Propulsion Engineer working on New Glenn Upper Stage! To say I am ecstatic to work on rockets again is an understatement.#teamblue #womeninstem #spaceexploration pic.twitter.com/3dzWjd1ban
— Diana Alsindy | The Arabian Stargazer (@DianaAlsindy) March 22, 2022
But the surprise revealed by “Washington Post” for those who followed the event, especially from the Arab world, was Al-Sindi, an Iraqi who immigrated to her homeland as a teenager.
A surprise that made a large number of Iraqis and Arab activists celebrate the woman who appeared in several clips, explaining the images monitored by James Webb at length and with a detailed explanation.
Diana Al-Sindi, the first Iraqi engineer working for NASA, commented on the pictures taken through the James Webb Telescope. pic.twitter.com/dr76gbtw6a
– Passerby (@abrsbyl73007509) July 14, 2022
Al-Sindi told the Washington Post that the importance of these images will make space science easier and more interesting for many, including those who have not been able to study space.
Revealing her trip to the Goddard Center, where the photographs were presented, Al-Sindi told the newspaper: “What it means to me is to present science in an interesting way, in both English and Arabic. It’s great that it inspires the next generation.”
Diana Al-Iraqi is a jet engine development engineer for Virgin Orbit, and the founder of TheArabianStargazer on Instagram and Twitter, a bilingual educational platform that promotes science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) for Arab youth around the world.
Part of my TEDX talk discussed a few examples when diversity of thought and world collaboration impacted our technologies. Can’t wait to share the full version! Part of my talk at TEDX spoke of examples when diversity of thought and global collaboration have affected our technologies.#TEDX #diveristy pic.twitter.com/DDti90nXUt
— Diana Alsindy | The Arabian Stargazer (@DianaAlsindy) June 21, 2022
The website of the Ithra Center for Space Sciences in the city of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, says about Diana, that her goal is to develop an educational student camp to be available to all students throughout the Middle East, and to be equipped with the resources, materials and opportunities available to them to be able to learn a set of tangible skills about engineering and space sciences .
The site adds that Diana’s passion for engineering began when she was 10 years old when she watched her grandfather smelting sheet metal and smashing them together in a small machine shop in their backyard.
Diana was born in the capital, Baghdad, and moved to Los Angeles in 2008, obtained a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering in 2017, and then started her first job in the field of manufacturing rockets for space exploration and satellite engines. And last March, it announced its joining the Blue Origin space project.
Diana has on the Instagram platform, more than 145,000 followers, and dedicated her page, according to what she announced, “I want to make science easy and available to everyone.”