“As somebody who at 10 years old wanted to do astronomy... I'm glad for where I've ended up.” An Interview with Rebekah Hounsell

Description

Rebekah Hounsell is a connoisseur of explosions, and she spends her time helping scientists get the most out of TESS, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite mission. She also dabbles in helping to design surveys for the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope. Rebekah sat down with us in the Spring of 2023 to talk about her experiences at the Goddard Space Flight Center, her wish to have seen more women in astronomy as a child, and, of course, watching things explode through TESS’s satellite images. Coming from the UK, she touches on the cultural differences between the two countries, the difficulties in moving across the world, as well as her desire to know growing up how non-US residents could become involved in NASA programs. Since recording, her team’s project infrastructure proposal — which she is a co-PI of — that was highlighted in our interview here has been selected for the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope.

Participants

• Rebekah Hounsell
  
• Jason Rodriguez
  
• AGU Narratives
  

Interview By

• AGU Narratives