Mareta West
Mareta West | |
---|---|
Born | August 9, 1915 |
Died | November 2, 1998 | (aged 83)
Mareta Nelle West (August 9, 1915 – November 2, 1998) was an
Early life
West was born August 9, 1915, in
West married Albert Reichard on April 21, 1939.[3][4] They had divorced by the time of the 1940 United States Census.[5]
Career
In the 1940s, West worked as a petroleum geologist in the oil and gas industry. She worked in Oklahoma City for eleven years before joining the United States Geological Survey in Flagstaff, Arizona, in 1964, two years after the agency was founded.[6] She was the first woman astrogeologist.[2] She was elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1966.[7]
West was the only woman on the Geology Experiment Team for Apollo 11.[8] She chose the site of the first crewed lunar landing,[2] and worked on selection of landing sites for subsequent Apollo missions.[6]
She continued to work on lunar and Martian geography into the 1970s, writing and co-writing several articles and publications. After retirement, West moved back to Oklahoma City, where she actively participated in community and philanthropic causes. She died on November 2, 1998.[9]
Cremated remains launched into space
Her cremated remains were launched into space aboard a
Publications
- Nuclear Power Reactor Sites in the Southeastern United States, 1978.
- West Side of the Moon
References
- ^ a b Fulkerson, Ron (August 7, 1969). "Sooner Showed Neil Where To Step". The Daily Oklahoman. p. 4.
- ^ a b c d Mareta West, Celestis.com. (accessed October 24, 2013)
- ^ a b Kidd, Peggy (June 1939). "Calling The Roll of Sooner Classes". Sooner Magazine. 11 (10): 22.
- ^ "City Girl and Ada Man Are Married". The Daily Oklahoman. April 23, 1939.
- ^ "1940 United States Census, Pontotoc County, Oklahoma". Ancestry.com. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ a b DeFrange, Ann (November 2, 1970). "Lady Has Her Mind on the Moon". The Daily Oklahoman.
- ^ "Historic fellows". American Association for the Advancement of Science. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
- ^ "Profiles of Pioneers: West, Mareta Nelle". Kappa Kappa Gamma.
- ^ The Oklahoman
- ^ "Firm offers Moon burial". BBC News. May 10, 2000. Retrieved July 18, 2019.
- ^ Bergin, Chris (August 2, 2008). "SpaceX Falcon I fails during first stage flight". NASASpaceflight.com.