Joan Horvath facts for kids

Joan Horvath is an American aeronautical engineer, a writer, and an entrepreneur. This means she is an expert in designing and building aircraft and spacecraft. She also writes books and starts her own businesses.

Working with Space and Technology

Joan Horvath worked for sixteen years at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL is a special center run by NASA that builds and operates robotic spacecraft. While at JPL, Joan helped with two important space missions.

Magellan Spacecraft Mission

One of the missions Joan worked on was the Magellan project. The Magellan spacecraft was sent to study the planet Venus. It orbited Venus and used radar to map its surface. This helped scientists learn a lot about Venus, which is often called Earth's "sister planet."

TOPEX/Poseidon Project

She also worked on the TOPEX/Poseidon project. This was a joint mission between NASA and the French space agency. The TOPEX/Poseidon satellite orbited Earth and measured the height of the ocean's surface. This information was very important for understanding ocean currents and how the sea level changes over time.

Technology Transfer at JPL

Joan also worked in the technology transfer office at JPL. This office helps take new technologies developed for space exploration and find ways to use them here on Earth. For example, a technology created for a spacecraft might be adapted to help in medicine or everyday life.

Starting New Businesses

After her time at JPL, Joan Horvath became a business leader. She was the CEO of a company called Takeoff Technologies. A CEO is the chief executive officer, the highest-ranking person in a company.

She is also a co-founder of Nonscriptum LLC, a company that focuses on 3D printing. 3D printing is a cool technology that builds three-dimensional objects layer by layer from a digital design. It's like a printer, but instead of ink on paper, it uses materials like plastic or metal to create real objects.

See also

In Spanish: Joan Horvath para niños