MT Magazine September/October 2024

FEATURE STORY

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2024

27

“I always wanted to understand how things worked,” Cobb recalled. “One day, my dad took me to family day at the steel mill. I was in awe. There were these massive crucibles of metal being poured into molds. I could smell the metal and feel the heat. It was such an intense experience, and I was hooked.” Fueling a Vision A few years later, a guidance counselor recommended that the young Cobb, who excelled in both math and science, attend engineering open houses at nearby colleges. When she walked into the materials department at the University of Alabama – Birmingham, she knew she found her calling. “They showed us so many different things about how materials react and interact. It just really connected with me. What they could do with metals and chemicals felt like magic,” Cobb noted. After earning her Ph.D. in material science and engineering, Cobb began her NASA career in 1986 as a senior research scientist. Her first project was studying the effects of reduced gravity on a variety of complex semiconductor materials. Joining NASA was a dream come true for the young engineer, and Cobb quickly immersed herself in her research. Along the way, she was encouraged by supportive managers and bolstered by the women who went before her. “I was doing physics research, and there were not a lot of women in the field at the time, but I wasn’t alone,” Cobb recalled. “It was such a fabulous time to be at NASA. We were going through a period of rich scientific discovery. There were also female role models for the first time. There were already some groundbreaking women working at NASA, and they were doing amazing things.” Collaboration and Combustion Cobb joined the SLS program in 2012 and worked her way up to associate program manager. She is now the third-ranking manager within the office. NASA’s SLS is a super heavy-lift rocket that provides the foundation for human exploration beyond Earth’s orbit. With its unprecedented capabilities, SLS is the only rocket that can send NASA’s Orion spacecraft, four astronauts, and large cargo directly to the moon on a single mission. The SLS rocket is designed to be evolvable, which makes it possible to increase its capability to fly more types of missions, including human missions to the Moon and Mars. When Artemis I launched for the first time in November 2022, Cobb and the thousands of people who contributed to the mission celebrated. “Seeing that rocket light up the sky was truly indescribable. There was a realization that we were making history and opening doors to the universe for future generations,” she said. “I had been involved in the creation of the rocket from preliminary designs through development, assembly, and testing for 10 years prior to launch day. It was such an honor to be a part of something that really was the culmination of an entire nation working together.”

The Artemis missions will lay the foundation for space exploration and discovery for generations to come, Cobb explained. “That’s a career highlight that will be hard to top,” she concluded. But that doesn’t stop her and her team from trying. “Our ultimate goal is to have humans live and work on the moon. That’s a huge endeavor. I want to see humans walking on the moon tomorrow. I want to inspire the next generation of Americans in the same way that earlier space missions inspired me,” she said.

The Artemis I mission, comprised of the integrated test flight of the SLS rocket and the uncrewed Orion spacecraft, successfully launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Nov. 16, 2022.

A Slow Burn While her passion remains unchecked, Cobb has learned to temper it with patience over the years. Enormous endeavors like space missions take an immense amount of time, money, and effort and have so many diverse and complex parts and systems. For instance, by her count, there were components built for the Artemis mission in all 50 states. This was truly a national and international endeavor, with contributions also made by many European nations. Artemis II and III are slated to be crewed missions, first in orbit and then landing on the moon. “The crewed missions will really ignite people’s imaginations and show them that this is a long-term generational program that will drive our children’s future and their children’s future,” said Cobb. Part of that drive to inspire future generations comes from Cobb’s own memories of feeling inspired by her supervisors and co-workers throughout her tenure at NASA.

Artemis II NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman and Christina Koch of NASA and CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut Jeremy Hansen view the core stage for the SLS (Space Launch System) rocket at the agency’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans.