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We use the word epiphany to refer to moments when we really see people, places, or things for what they really are, a “eureka” kind of moment. In the church calendar’s Season of the Epiphany we see Jesus clearly in the stories told each week, and this week the scriptures have to do with recognizing that someone is speaking with authority – whether it’s recognizing a prophet God has sent (Deuteronomy 18:5-20), recognizing Paul’s authority when it comes to addressing an issue that was a real poser for the varying ethic groups that comprised the Corinthian church (1 Corinthians 8:1-13), or the people recognizing the credentialsof Jesus not only in what he did, but in the fact that he spoke with authority.

It took something of an epiphany for many men to recognize Virginia Norwood (1927-2023) as a groundbreaking scientist, because many more simply dismissed her because she was a woman and therefore (in their eyes) incapable of being a scientist. However, her extraordinary gifts in solving seemingly impossible problems and designing machines to fit the purpose were finally recognized by all, including her detractors.

Norwood was especially important when it came to the design and operation of a series of Landsat satellites which have reimaged the earth’s surface every sixteen days in all the decades since the inauguration of the program in 1972.

She was born Virginia Tower. Her mother was both a linguist who spoke nine languages as well as a homemaker. Her father, who taught physics at Carnegie Tech, encouraged her to pursue a career in the sciences. At the time, he was still serving in the military, so the family moved often. Eventually, after graduation from one of the many high schools she attended because of their peripatetic lifestyle, she enrolled at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

At first it was difficult for her after graduation to find employment. She was often told by companies that they did not hire women, and when she was offered a job it was at a pay scale far lower than what was offered to men. At least one company wanted her to promise she would not become pregnant. Eventually she was hired by the US Army Signal Corps laboratory, where she designed radar reflectors for weather balloons. She also designed antennas for microwaves and some of her work in this area is still classified.

This led to a job in Los Angeles, where in 1957 she began to work for Hughes Aircraft in research and development. Among the 27,000 employees, she was the only woman.  There she became known, in her words, “as the person who could solve impossible problems.” She often helped others develop their ideas into reality.

Over time she rose in the ranks. One man quit rather than work for a woman. A few years later he came back to ask her for a job. She said no.

During the space race, when NASA began to send probes to take detailed photographs of the moon’s service, Norwood began to wonder how equally detailed photographs of earth could be taken that would aid life on our planet. She talked to experts in many fields — agriculture, weather, pollution, and geology — in order to find out what sort of information would be useful.

Norwood designed a compact scanner that recorded information across the breadth and depth of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Meanwhile, RCA was called upon to design an extraordinarily heavy and cumbersome television system that used the old tubes, had a short shelf life, and took up most of the 4,000-pound weight of the proposed first LANDSAT satellite. When Norwood tried to talk NASA into including her equipment she was told they could squeeze it in if she kept it all under a hundred pounds.

Landsat 1 was launched in July of 1972.  Within two weeks, the RCA equipment broke down and ceased to function. Indeed, it almost destroyed the entire system. Meanwhile Norwood’s scanners proved reliable and dependable. The information transmitted directly affected the lives of ordinary people on the ground. Landsats 2-8 were launched over the ensuing years, and like Landsat 9, due to be launched in 2030, they are all based on Norwood’s design.

In the meantime, Norwood designed many more original pieces of equipment essential for the exploration of earth and space, including the communication equipment on the Surveyor automated moon landers.

To see the earth as it is really is an epiphany. In order for the patriarchal society of NASA and aerospace engineering to recognize Virginia’s Norwood’s authority took an even greater epiphany.