The exciting results from the Hubble, other satellites and probes would not have been possible without innovative solutions to many technical problems.
I had never used the prefix 'Dr.' with my name, but when I started with NASA, I had to. Otherwise, I could not get past the secretaries.
The first year I was at NASA, I was only responsible for optical and ultraviolet astronomy. Frankly, there wasn't much else.
My career was quite unusual, so my main advice to someone interested in a career similar to my own is to remain open to change and new opportunities. I like to tell students that the jobs I took after my Ph.D. were not in existence only a few years before.
I was scheduled to graduate from high school in 1943, but I was in a course that was supposed to give us four years of high school plus a year of college in our four years. So by the end of my junior year, I would have had enough credits to graduate from high school.
I wondered had I really oversold the Hubble. I have to admit that, since, I have been convinced that I didn't.
