Physicist Dr. Mona J. Hagyard, who earned a doctorate, also served as an expert in space science and was a principal investigator on the Solar Maximum Mission in the 1980s. She came to Marshall in September 1967 upon completion of her doctorate in physics at the University of Kentucky. Hagyard joined the Research Projects Lab (later the Space Sciences Laboratory) to work on the Skylab Apollo Telescope Mount (ATM) solar experiments. Like many other female scientists seeking employment in the Age of Apollo, Hagyard adopted the job seeking strategy of using her initials instead of her full name delaying the reveal of her gender until the interview.
Shortly after joining Marshall, Hagyard became involved in Marshall’s Solar Vector Magnetograph project which was started in conjunction with the Naval Research Laboratory to provide support for the ATM mission. This instrument became internationally recognized during the Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) era and has provided pioneering research in solar magnetic fields. Hagyard was a guest investigator for the SMM, the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, and Principal Investigator on a number of supporting research and technology grants and Center Director’s Discretionary Fund programs. She became Team Leader of Marshall’s Solar Observatory in 1980, directing the day-today operations of the facility.
In this photo, Hagyard is working at the Solar Vector Magnetograph observing the solar magnetic field on October 24, 1990.
Image credit: NASA