Contest: ENTER Miscellaneous Avatar Contest: Women and Space

[Timewalker]

First, I would like to thank everyone who voted for my Bast and her gorgeous Black Cat avatar last time. It's been nearly 5 years since I won one of these contests, so this was a really nice surprise.

The theme of this contest is Women and Space. What I am looking for are avatars of women astronauts and/or women astronomers (there are more than you might think!).

You may enter up to two avatars. Media images are allowed if they come from news or documentary sources, but no fictional TV, movie, or comic characters, etc. For example, Jodie Foster as Elly Arroway (from the movie Contact) is not allowed. However, Carl Sagan based her character on a real female astronomer, so that individual would be eligible.

Please include a note as to who the person is and what her main accomplishment was. In this way we can all learn more about the women of science who have worked to get us all a bit closer to the stars.

The usual rules apply as to size, and I don't think this time around there would be any problem with NSFW entries.

One rule I will set for this particular contest is that the images may not be animated. Many of the animated avatars I've noticed over the last few years are so busy that it's literally dizzying to look at them and almost impossible to really appreciate the actual imagery.

Women astronauts
Women astronomers

I'll leave this thread open to entries for a week or so. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here, or send me a PM.

 

[Timewalker]

Caroline Herschel (astronomer)



Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) was the younger sister of astronomer William Herschel (discoverer of the planet Uranus). Caroline Herschel is best known for discovering several comets and nebulae, producing an atlas of nebulae, and she assisted her brother in his own astronomical work. She has an asteroid and a crater on the Moon named after her.


Julie Payette (astronaut)



Julie Payette (1963 - ) was the second Canadian woman to fly in the space shuttle (two separate missions), and the first Canadian astronaut to board the International Space Station. She could be considered a modern "Renaissance woman", as she speaks six languages, is an engineer, pilot, singer, musician, athlete, and currently serves as Canada's Governor General. She is a strong advocate for encouraging women and girls to pursue careers in science.

 

[auntiehill]

Sally Ride

Sally Kristen Ride was an American astronaut and physicist. Born in Los Angeles, she joined NASA in 1978 and became the first American woman in space in 1983. Ride was the third woman in space overall, after USSR cosmonauts Valentina Tereshkova and Svetlana Savitskaya.

Christina Koch

Christina Hammock Koch is an American engineer and NASA astronaut of the class of 2013. On March 14, 2019, Koch launched to the International Space Station as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 59, 60 and 61. On October 18, 2019, she and Jessica Meir were the first women to participate in an all-female spacewalk. On December 28, 2019, Koch broke the record for longest continuous time in space by a woman. She returned from space on February 6, 2020.

 

[Miss Lemon]

Caroline Herschel (astronomer)

View attachment 13456

Caroline Herschel (1750-1848) was the younger sister of astronomer William Herschel (discoverer of the planet Uranus.

I think that is Maria Mitchell?

 

[Timewalker]

I think that is Maria Mitchell?

I found multiple images where she was identified as Caroline Herschel. I will double-check, and amend if necessary.

 

[Kai "the spy"]

Aglaonice was an early astronomer in ancient Greece, likely living in the 2nd or 1st Century BC, who was able to predict lunar eclipses. A lot of her contemporaries thought she was an enchantress who commanded the moon.

Valentina Tereshkova, born in 1937, became the first woman in space, and at age 26 still the youngest woman to go to space, and the only woman on a solo flight to space. Her trip was on board the Vostok 6 and spend three days in June 1963 in orbit, going around the earth 48 times. She's now a politician and member of the Gosduma.

 

[think]

getting my two in soon.. this is the first...

Blakesley Burkhart


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blakesley_Burkhart
from the link is a quote below.

Blakesley Burkhart is an astrophysicist. She is the winner of the 2019 Annie Jump Cannon Award in Astronomy, which recognizes achievement by a woman post-doctoral researcher in astronomy or a related field. The award cited her work on magnetohydrodynamic turbulence, and for developing innovative techniques for comparing observable astronomical phenomena with theoretical models.​

she began astronomy at Rutgers

yeah I went there. --- I ran the video art lab in 1988 from two years before about 2 years of work in there. making sure the computers works I guess. and doing things. like that ahhh Rutgers I have not moved away really . One town over.

 

[think]

Sharon Christa McAuliffe

The teacher going to space and died in 1986 January 28, Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.

I remember full well being in the Intensive Treatment Unit ITU at the state psychiatric hospital .. in NJ 0n that day .. sitting there in the day room, looking at the launch live.. and It blew up --- and that blew my mind.. they played it back over and over. OMG.. freaked me out and I was on the freakout ward at the time.. --- word.

And where were you If you were alive? -- we all remember if we were alive you know?

 

[Avro Arrow]

Excellent topic, and one near to my heart as well!

Dr. Roberta Bondar
Dr. Bondar holds both a PhD in neuroscience, and an MD as well. In 1983, she was one of the first six Canadians selected for our astronaut program. She became the first Canadian woman in space in January, 1992, when she flew aboard Discovery as a payload specialist as part of STS-42. After her time as an astronaut, she led a research team at NASA for more than a decade.

Christa McAuliffe
Christa was a teacher from New Hampshire. In 1985, she was selected, out of a field of over 11,000 applicants, to participate in the NASA Teacher in Space Project, and become the first civilian in space. She was part of the crew of space shuttle Challenger for STS-51-L. Tragically, she and the rest of the crew lost their lives when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launch.

ETA: Whoops, looks like @think ninja'd me while I was typing. I will pick a different second entry.

 

[think]

Excellent topic, and one near to my heart as well!

Dr. Roberta Bondar
Dr. Bondar holds both a PhD in neuroscience, and is an MD as well. In 1983, she was one of the first six Canadians selected for our astronaut program. She became the first Canadian woman in space in January, 1992, when she flew aboard Discovery as a payload specialist as part of STS-42. After her time as an astronaut, she led a research team at NASA for more than a decade.

Christa McAuliffe
Christa was a teacher from New Hampshire. In 1985, she was selected, out of a field of over 11,000 applicants, to participate in the NASA Teacher in Space Project, and become the first civilian in space. She was part of the crew of space shuttle Challenger for STS-51-L. Tragically, she and the rest of the crew lost their lives when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after launch.

ETA: Whoops, looks like @think ninja'd me while I was typing. I will pick a different second entry.

I took my time and didn't put ninja spin on this .. I guess If I had gone faster you would not of chose her from seeing mine

I did at first want to put the first woman In space up but they ninja'd me with that one but I saw that.. in time. well I had the thing ready to post .. and had to change it..--- hence taking my time.

I wanted one space one astronomer avatars this time.. since it just fit like that

the second edit. here is the first woman in space image I did before and then deleted ---


Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova

at first the name seemed different as I was going with the full name but yeah I figured it out and realized it was the same. --- ninja'd at 6:53 yesterday so it was more of a confusion from the skim read to rush thru than anything else.

 

[Avro Arrow]

New second entry:

Dr. Mae Jemison
Dr. Jemison is both a physician and an engineer. She joined the astronaut corps in 1987. In September, 1992, she became the first African-American woman in space when she flew aboard space shuttle Endeavour as a mission specialist for STS-47. After retiring as an astronaut, she founded a technology research company, and later launched the foundation that won the bid to run the 100 Year Starship project. (And of possible interest to the members of this board, she also guest starred on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation! )

 

[Miss Lemon]

Hypatia by Scott Burdick (2009)

"Hypatia of Alexandria was born during the late fourth century. [She] is considered by many as the first notable female mathematician and astronomer, which she explored alongside her philosophy teachings. Hypatia was the first woman to make a substantial contribution to the development of mathematics and wrote books on both mathematics and astronomy. Hypatia’s most notable contributions to astronomy and science include the charting of celestial bodies and the invention of the hydrometer, used to determine the relative density and gravity of liquids. In the spring of 415 C.E. [...] a band of Christian monks seized Hypatia on the street, beat her, and dragged her body to a church where they mutilated her flesh with sharp tiles and burned her remains."
Quote from: https://www.perthobservatory.com.au/ancient-astronomers/women-ancient-astronomy

According to the painter:
"The painting is meant to be a play on the traditional religious paintings, except, in this case, the martyr is looking up to the light of rational truth while being dragged down toward the darkness of superstition and ignorance."
Quote from: https://honorthegodsblog.wordpress.com/2015/03/10/hypatia-by-scott-burdick-2009-from-the/

Queen Seondeok of Silla (Korean: 선덕여왕)

"Her birth date is unconfirmed but possibly about 610 – 17 February 647. After her father died, [...] she reigned as Queen Regnant of Silla, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea, from 632 to 647. She was Silla’s twenty-seventh ruler and its first reigning queen. She [...] encouraged a renaissance in thought, literature, and the arts in Silla. She was very interested in astronomy and built the “Tower of the Moon and Stars” considered to be the first dedicated observatory in the Far East. It was used for observing the stars in order to forecast the weather."
Quoted from: https://www.perthobservatory.com.au/ancient-astronomers/women-ancient-astronomy

The tower still stands in the old Silla capital of Gyeongju, South Korea and remains mostly intact.

I've had an interesting read this morning; thanks for this great topic, @Timewalker !

 

[Timewalker]

And where were you If you were alive?

I was in bed, asleep. My grandmother usually watched the early morning news, and called up the stairs for me to come down and watch the news coverage (as she knew that I was interested in anything space-related).

I was absolutely dumbfounded. The last time astronauts were killed, I was too young to remember anything about it. This time... I spent the day glued to the news channels.

Somewhere in my collection of audio tapes, I have a filk tape of songs that were written and performed in commemoration of the Challenger disaster (and of course it included Leslie Fish's "Hope Eyrie" that was done in honor of the Apollo space program).

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Liisi Oterma (1915-2001) - the first women to get a PhD in astronomy in Finland

Elisabeth von der Matt (1762-1814) - the first female Austrian astronomer to be fully accepted by her male colleagues and to be published like them. Her private observatory was better equipped than Vienna University's one.

 

[Timewalker]

Time got away on me, folks, sorry! I'll try to have the voting thread up tonight, so if there are any last minute entries or changes (please make sure it's easy to tell which ones are your FINAL entries), you have about 10-12 more hours from now (currently 10 am MST).

 

[Timewalker]

Again, apologies for the delay. Hopefully Thursday will be the charm.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

take your time space wasn't conquered in one day

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Bumping thread since it's Thursday - again ( )

 

[SPCTRE]

Samantha Cristoforetti (Italian pronunciation: [saˈmanta kristofoˈretti]; born 26 April 1977, in Milan) is an Italian European Space Agency astronaut, former Italian Air Force pilot and engineer. She holds the record for the longest uninterrupted spaceflight by a European astronaut (199 days, 16 hours), and until June 2017 held the record for the longest single space flight by a woman until this was broken by Peggy Whitson and later by Christina Koch. She is also the first Italian woman in space. Samantha Cristoforetti is also known as the first person who brewed an espresso in space.

 

[auntiehill]

Again, apologies for the delay. Hopefully Thursday will be the charm.

*cough cough*