Barbara Askins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Barbara Askins
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Askins in 1977
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| Born | 1939 (age 85–86) Belfast, Tennessee, U.S.
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| Alma mater | University of Alabama in Huntsville |
| Awards | National Inventor of the Year |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry |
| Institutions | Marshall Space Flight Center |
Barbara S. Askins, born in 1939, is an American chemist. She is famous for inventing a special way to make dark or blurry photos much clearer. This invention was super helpful for NASA and doctors. Because of her amazing work, she was named National Inventor of the Year in 1978.
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Early Life and Education
Barbara Askins was born in Belfast, Tennessee, in 1939. She first worked as a teacher. Later, when her two children started school, Barbara went back to college. She studied chemistry and earned both her bachelor's and master's degrees. In 1975, she began working for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
Amazing Invention at NASA
Askins was a physical chemist at NASA. She created a groundbreaking method to improve photos. Her invention could make images on undeveloped film much stronger. She did this by making the silver in the image slightly radioactive. Then, she would expose a second piece of film to this radiation.
The new picture was called an autoradiograph. It showed the image with much more detail and sharpness. This amazing process made images visible that were too dark to see before. It was like magic, making the invisible parts of photos appear!
Helping Space Exploration
Barbara Askins' invention was very useful for NASA. It helped scientists get clear information from space photos that were too dark. This included pictures looking deep into space. It also helped with photos showing the geology (the rocks and land) of other planets.
Improving Medical X-rays
Her invention also greatly helped in medicine. It made X-ray images much clearer. Even X-rays that were 96 percent too dark could now be read. This meant doctors could use much less X-ray radiation on patients. This made X-ray tests safer for everyone. Askins' process was also used to fix old, faded photographs.
Barbara Askins received a patent for her invention in 1978. NASA used her method a lot for their research and development.
Awards and Groups
In 1978, Barbara Askins was named the National Inventor of the Year. This award came from the Association for Advancement of Inventions and Innovations. She was the first woman to ever receive this special honor by herself.
Askins is also a member of several important science groups. These include the American Chemical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is also part of the Sigma Xi research society and the World Future Society.
See also
In Spanish: Barbara Askins para niños
