Lissette Martinez
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Lissette Martinez (b. 1971), is the lead electrical engineer for the Space Experiment Module program at the Wallops Flight Facility which is part of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
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[edit] Early years
Martinez was born in Brooklyn, New York to Puerto Rican parents. She was raised in Yauco, Puerto Rico where her family had moved when she was still a child. There she received her primary and secondary education. When she was in 8th garde, she was given a homework assignment to study the moon which required that she spent time on the roof of her house everynight for a month. She wrote down and detailed every aspect of the way the moon looked. She remembers that as an instrumental factor which inspired her to pursue a career in the Space Science.[1]
[edit] Education
After she graduated from high school, she applied and was accepted in the Mayaguez campus of the University of Puerto Rico. During her third year as an electrical engineering student she was accepted into the NASA Cooperative Education Program which allowed her to work with NASA scientist and at the sametime earn school credits. Martinez earned her degree in electrical engineering in 1993 and was offered a job in NASA.[1]
[edit] Career in NASA
Martinez was part of the team that launched a rocket from White Sands, New Mexico to gather information on the Hale-Bopp Comet in 1999. She was featured in the November 2002 issue of Latina magazine.[2]
She is responsible for providing electrical engineering support to Code 870 Space Experiment Module (SEM) program. She is also responsible for the testing of ground and flight hardware. Martinez works with students around the world, helping them with science experiments that will actually ride along on Space Shuttle missions and blast into space.[3]
[edit] Currently
Martinez continues to work at Wallops Flight Facility located in Virginia. She lives with her son in Salisbury, Maryland.
