Ann E. Bailie facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ann E. Bailie
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Ann E. Bailie, from a 1961 publication of the United States Civil Service Commission
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Dorothy Ann Eckels
1935 Littleton, New Hampshire
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| Died | 2022 |
| Occupation | Mathematician |
Dorothy Ann Eckels Bailie, born in 1935, was an amazing American mathematician. She worked at the Goddard Space Flight Center during the 1950s and 1960s. Ann Bailie was part of a special team that discovered something incredible about Earth's shape. In 1959, they used information from the Vanguard 1 satellite to show that our planet is not perfectly round. Instead, it's a bit uneven, like a "pear-shaped" object!
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Early Life and Education
Ann Eckels was born in Littleton, New Hampshire. She grew up in Laconia, New Hampshire. Her father, John C. Eckels, was a surgeon. Her grandfather, Adolph Frederick Erdmann, was a very important person in the early days of anesthesiology. This is the medical field that helps people not feel pain during surgery.
Ann loved math and studied it in college. She earned her bachelor's degree in mathematics from Middlebury College in 1957. While at Middlebury, she was very involved in school activities. She was even chosen as the Queen of the school's Winter Carnival, an event she also helped organize.
A Career in Space Science
After college, Ann Bailie started her career at the United States Naval Research Laboratory. This is a place where scientists work on new technologies for the Navy.
By 1959, she joined NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She worked in the Theoretical Division. Her job was to calculate and analyze the complex paths that satellites take as they orbit Earth. This was a very important and challenging task!
Discovering Earth's True Shape
Ann Bailie was part of a groundbreaking team. Along with R. Kenneth Squires and John A. O'Keefe, she helped make a huge discovery. They used data from the Vanguard 1 satellite. This satellite was one of the first to orbit Earth.
By carefully studying the satellite's movements, they figured out that Earth is not a perfect sphere. Instead, it's slightly asymmetrical, meaning it's not perfectly balanced on all sides. They described it as "pear-shaped." This discovery changed how scientists understood our planet.
Recognition and Later Work
Ann Bailie's work was recognized by important people. In 1961, James E. Webb, who was the head of NASA at the time, mentioned her in a speech. He highlighted her, Nancy Roman, and Eleanor C. Pressly as examples of talented women working in the space program.
In 1963, Mademoiselle magazine named her one of the "Ten Young Women of the Year." This showed how important her contributions were. Later in her career, Ann Bailie worked at Analytical Mechanics Associates in Maryland. This company focuses on complex engineering and scientific problems.
Personal Life
Ann Eckels married William J. Bailie in 1959. He was an accountant. They had three children together. Her husband, William, passed away in 2009. Ann Bailie herself passed away in 2022.
