Three Cheers for the Boss!

On Monday, my Boss accepted a NASA Honor Award on behalf of the
Swift Ground System Team, of which I am a member. Since his wife was
not available to attend the lunchtime ceremony, I had the honor of being
his guest. The event was held at the ultra-swank banquet hall Martin's
Crosswinds. Also in attendance were several others from our lab, but
we were scattered about. The seating chart was designed to optimize
the flow of awardees from seat to on-deck-circle, to hand-shake-award-
hand-off to return-to-table. I sat next to an older man who was attending
with his mother. Even though I have been a woman in science from the
moment I left high school, I immediately and completely assumed that
his mom was there to see him accept his award. Not! In fact, this eighty-
something woman was there to accept her Distinguished Service award.
It seems she has, apparently, written The Book on high voltage power
supplies in space. Though she retired 22 years ago from NASA, engineers
still visit her at home in Bethesda to consult on their power systems
designs. I asked where she went to school, and her son described her
academic track, including her thesis work which she conducted "with a
very well known physicist by the name of Hans Bethe." The Boss and
I had a good laugh about that phrasing, since Bethe is indisputably one
of the giants of 20th century astrophysics, having figured out that the
stars, including the Sun, are powered by nuclear fusion, a major leap
forward in our understanding of pretty much the entire universe!

I wish I'd talked a bit to this guy's mom, but she was sufficiently far from
me that I only got to say hello, and congratulations. But her son was
also an interesting fellow, having served in the foreign service for the
past several decades. He's been to all the garden spots of the planet,
including Afghanistan and Iraq, where he is returning soon. He and the
Boss exchanged stories about fun places to visit while in Kenya (which is
where our ground station is located). And he joked that his mom stayed
in the satellite business all this time just so she could keep tabs on him
while he was off on his dangerous missions.

I often worry that my son is somehow silently suffering having me,
a full-time career person, as his mom. Meeting this mother-son duo
gave me hope that he'll actually turn out just fine. Who knows?
In another 40 years, maybe he'll be accompanying me to Martin's
Crosswinds, where I'll accept my NASA Honor Award for having
written the most a cappella songs about astrophysics! It's more likely
than a Grammy, anyway.

The Boss did a fine job accepting the award, even going so far as to
donn a suit jacket and tie! The food was tasty and abundant,
including a dessert of chocolate cake layers surrounding a cheesecake
center, which put an end to the beginning of my spring diet plans.
The ceremony itself was well done by the powers that be, and the
tablemates were an interesting collection. I am very grateful to have
been invited along for the ride. Thanks, Boss!!