Personal Life
STEM Advocacy and Mentorship
The Illusion Transmitter: Conception and Impact
Early Life and Education
Awards and Recognition
Main milestones
NASA Career: Transforming Imaging Technology
Valerie L. Thomas (born February 8, 1943) is an American data scientist and inventor. She invented the illusion transmitter, for which she received a patent in 1980.[2] She was responsible for developing the digital media formats that image processing systems used in the early years of NASA's Landsat program.[3]
Thomas was born in Baltimore, Maryland.[4] She graduated from high school in 1961, during the era of integration.[5] She attended Morgan State University, where she was one of two women majoring in physics.[6] Thomas excelled in her mathematics and science courses at Morgan State University, graduating with a degree in physics with highest honors in 1964.[5]
Thomas began working for NASA as a data analyst in 1964.[7][8] She developed real-time computer data systems to support satellite operation control centers (1964–1970). She oversaw the creation of the Landsat program and her participation in the program expanded upon the works of other NASA scientists in the pursuit of being able to visualize Earth from space.[9]
In 1974, Thomas headed a team of approximately 50 people for the Large Area Crop Inventory Experiment (LACIE), a joint effort with the NASA Johnson Space Center, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. LACIE demonstrated the feasibility of using satellites to automate the process of predicting wheat yield on a worldwide basis.[8]
She attended a science exhibition in 1976 that included an illusion of a light bulb that appeared to be lit, even though it had been removed from its socket. The illusion, which involved another light bulb and concave mirrors, inspired Thomas. In response to her curiosity, she began her researching a potential patent in 1977. This involved creating an experiment in which she observed how the position of a concave mirror would affect the real object that is reflected through it. Through her discovery and experimentation, she would invent an optical device called the illusion transmitter.[6] On October 21, 1980,[7] she obtained the patent for the illusion transmitter, a device NASA adopted and which was later adapted for screens on devices ranging from surgery tools to televisions.[10][11] Thomas became associate chief of the Space Science Data Operations Office at NASA.[12] Thomas's invention has been depicted in a children's fictional book, television, and in video games.[5]
In 1985, as the NSSDC Computer Facility manager, Thomas was responsible for a major consolidation and reconfiguration of two previously independent computer facilities. She then served as the Space Physics Analysis Network (SPAN)[13] project manager from 1986 to 1990 during a period when SPAN underwent a major reconfiguration and grew from a scientific network with approximately 100 computer nodes to one directly connecting approximately 2,700 computer nodes worldwide. Thomas' team was credited with developing a computer network that connected research stations of scientists from around the world to improve scientific collaboration.[5]
In 1990, SPAN became a major part of NASA's science networking and today's Internet.[8] She also participated in projects related to Halley's Comet, ozone research, satellite technology, and the Voyager spacecraft.
She mentored students in the Mathematics Aerospace Research and Technology Inc. program.[14] Thomas often spoke to groups of students from elementary school, secondary, college, and university ages, as well as adult groups. As a role model for her community, she visits schools and national meetings over the years. She has mentored students working in summer programs at Goddard Space Flight Center. She also judged at science fairs, working with organizations such as the National Technical Association (NTA) and Women in Science and Engineering (WISE).[15]
At the end of August 1995, she retired from NASA and her positions of associate chief of the NASA Space Science Data Operations Office, manager of the NASA Automated Systems Incident Response Capability, and as chair of the Space Science Data Operations Office Education Committee.[8]
After retiring, Thomas served as an associate at the UMBC Center for Multicore Hybrid Productivity Research.[16] She also continued to mentor youth through the Science Mathematics Aerospace Research and Technology, Inc. and the National Technical Association.[6] In 2018, Thomas was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame, recognizing her contributions to satellite communication and remote sensing as a pioneer.<[17]
Thomas has received numerous awards including the Goddard Space Flight Center Award of Merit and the NASA Equal Opportunity Medal.[14]
This technology was subsequently adopted by NASA and has since been adapted for use in surgery as well as the production of television and video screens.
NASA uses the technology today, and scientists are currently working on ways to incorporate it into tools for surgeons to look inside the human body, and possibly for television sets and video screens one day.
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