Editorial by Mary Frost, Guest Editor

"I soon will be a satellite in low Earth orbit," noted Nicole Stott, scheduled to launch as a mission specialist with NASA Space Shuttle crew of STS128 and will remain on board the ISS as a flight engineer. After a long duration mission of about 4 months on station, she will return to Earth as a mission specialist with the crew of STS129. "Space, the final frontier." (Star Trek) has been the focus of Women in Space, Issue 15 of Space Journal. The editorial committee for this issue (click here to see who they are) helped to shape the contents of this issue, pitching in to identify and work with those being celebrated. They have my enduring appreciation, especially given the challenging deadlines imposed.

Follow the remarkable personal/professional journeys of some unique and talented women in the space industry. By clicking on their photos and biographies, you can access reflections from astronauts, engineers, military officers, CEOs, entrepreneurs, policy makers, broadcasters, marketers, and others whose careers span multiple sectors of global space industry. You'll meet extraordinary women who are studies in success, having reached the highest levels of their professions.

How did these luminaries get started?

Every success story has its origin, its hurdles, its apogees and its perigees. Of what accomplishments are our women at the vanguard most proud? What opportunities did they seize? What challenges did they surmount? What advice do they offer those interested in joining this field of dedicated, passionate, experienced and unusually capable women? In their answers to such questions, these visionaries reveal their accomplishments, personalities, determination, and, importantly, their thoughtfulness and sense of humor are clearly reflected in their responses.

We treasure each other. We all took different roads to get where we are today. Space and satellite is really a small industry, with enough flexibility for talented individuals to thrive under diverse management styles. But, our industry doesn't tolerate those lacking key values, like integrity, a hard-work ethic, team-first spirit, mutual respect and commitment to perpetual learning -- attributes integral to the success of all of us. Many have struggled to achieve a work/life balance, which is certainly not unique to our gender but arguably more pronounced.

We would all agree that we have savored living the history of the satellite industry from our different vantage points. Within this issue is the story of a pioneer, Eilene Galloway, who died May 2 and would have been 103 on May 4. She helped draft the NASA charter and establish milestone legislation in domestic and international space policy. In 1957, Galloway was tapped by Lyndon Johnson (D-Texas) to analyze the threat posed by Soviet ICBMs after the launch of two Sputnik satellites. After that assignment, "space policy became her life's career." Our innovating women push the limits from policy-making regulatory and frequency breakthroughs, engineering design payloads, a shared patent for a digital telemetry system, implementing services and technology, and creating and growing space-centered businesses dramatically.

Make no mistake, readers. The satellite and aerospace industries need you, and opportunities abound. In fact, five-year forecasts suggest substantial growth projections. As Arthur C. Clarke said, "the only way to discover the limits of the possible is to go beyond them into the impossible."

Recently, the Society of Satellite Professionals International (http://www.sspi.org) celebrated the satellite industry's 55-year of existence - along with its dizzying plethora of regulatory, commercial, and technological changes. We can embrace such changes as demonstrations of a viable, maturing, ever evolving industry. We no longer seal million-dollar deals with a hand shake and a verbal agreement, as we once did. Today, our more formal financial and strategic partnering approach underpins the design, implementation and operation of longer-life, increasingly capable communication satellites.

The industry is much more inviting to women than mere decades ago. What we once marveled at is now ho-hum. For example, spacewalks are so commonplace that they are no longer covered live (e.g. Hubble telescope repair). Two steps forward-one step back captures what has been the essence of space exploration progress. But that progress continues relentlessly, though not without fits and starts. Such progress could make space tourism the Caribbean cruise of tomorrow as demonstrated by SpaceX, a space transportation startup (Gwynne Shotwell).

• This unique issue of Women in Space cannot embrace all resources in one issue, so we are including other valuable resource links. Space Explorers, Inc. is committed to bringing the excitement and challenges of space exploration into classrooms worldwide (Christina Paape). http://www.space-explorers.com
• Check out the blog celebrating Women in Astronomy running for the duration of this International Year of Astronomy 2009. You do know about "howl night" don't you? And previous blogs include: - Captain Jennifer - Mission control of the all-girl rocket team from Belfast ; Maggie Aderin-Pocock - From space instruments to the Blue Peter satellite; Dr Helen Walker - Space telescopes, satellites and women and astronomy 2009;Lucy Rogers - Rockets and stars: starting off the International Year of Astronomy. http://www.ukrc4setwomen.org/html/projects-and-campaigns/astronomy-blog/?PHPSESSID=8cc9fa3ea3b6306d5cb994110d51ddf3
• Astronautix hosts every woman astronaut with a format similar to Space Journal at: http://www.astronautix.com/articles/womspace.htm

Please enjoy this issue and look periodically for updates as we hope this will become a living document. We are hoping for a very special video interview to be included in the third quarter. And finally, join SSPI Society of Satellite Professionals International, the Professional society that serves satellite professionals throughout their working lives, and sponsors Space Journal.

The women featured in this issue have my enduring appreciation.

Best regards,
Mary Frost and the Editorial Committee.

Women In Space Editorial Team
Mary Ann Elliot
Celeste Ford
Dawn Harms
Ellen Hoff
Susan Irwin
Joan Mancuso
Leslie Taylor

SSPI Headquarters
Robert Bell
Tamara Bond
Orly Konig-Lopez

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