Ann Whitaker

During the Apollo era, Whitaker worked on formulating dry film lubricants and conducted surface physics research. "At that time, we didn't know much about life and performance of space mechanisms and lubrication was a big issue. Many of the fundamental lubricants we developed are being used in space today."

The first project Whitaker worked on was the tractor crawler to the vehicle now used to carry the Shuttle to the launch pad. "At the time, the crawler was used to transport the Saturn rockets. I worked on a team responsible for the crawler's lubrication system and the redesign of the bearing system." She also helped develop the bicycle ergometer, one of the biomedical instruments for the three manned Skylab missions which ran from 1973-74. Some of her science demonstrators flew aboard Skylab 4, which launched Nov. 16, 1973 and landed Feb. 8, 1974.

In 1975, Whitaker served on an all-women crew of scientific experimenters in a five-day, ground-based exercise in the general purpose laboratory for a cylindrical structure similar to the Spacelab module. The crew conducted 11 materials science experiments to determine their practical application for future Spacelab missions. About the same time, she was working with the all-women crew of scientific experimenters, Whitaker completed pressure suit training to understand problems associated with doing experiments in space. To further her knowledge of these problems even more, she also completed a training course using scuba gear in Marshall's neutral buoyancy simulator - a huge water tank designed to simulate the near-weightless environment of space.

In the late '70s and early 80's, she was a payload specialist candidate. Though she never got her flight on the Shuttle, Whitaker's experiments examining the harsh effects of the space environment flew on the Long Duration Exposure Facility and multiple times on the Shuttle. "I've had the opportunity to work on programs plus create experiments. I think my work environment has been ideal for anything I wanted to do."

Whitaker received an undergraduate degree in physics from Berry College in Mount Berry, Ga., in 1961 and a master's degree in physics in 1968 from the University of Alabama in Huntsville. In 1989, she received her doctorate in materials engineering from Auburn University in Alabama. In 1981, she was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and was the Marshall Center nominee for Women in Science and Engineering Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985. Whitaker received the NASA Exceptional Engineering Achievement Medal and the Society of Women Engineers Award in 1990. She was awarded the Marshall Center Director's Commendation Award in both 1992 and 1996. She was nominated by NASA for the Women in Science and Engineering Lifetime Award in 1992 and completed the NASA Senior Executive Service Career Development Program in 1994. She has 65 technical papers, holds one patent and three inventive contributions. Whitaker has been named an American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) associate fellow and served on the Institute's Materials Technical Committee from 1993-present. Whitaker was the chairperson of the International Materials and Processes for the Society of Materials and Processes Engineers in 1994 and also served as chairman of the Space Manufacturing Thrust Committee for the society in 1997.

In her spare time Whitaker conducts genealogy research and enjoys gardening, reading and fishing. She is married to John Whitaker, and they have one daughter.