Sherry Buschmann

She and her team, which includes members from seven NASA centers, are partnering with industry to develop and demonstrate cutting-edge technologies, innovative launch systems and simplified operations to dramatically reduce the cost of access to space. "If we can get launch costs down, the possibilities for space exploration and commercialization would be endless. I believe we can answer that challenge here at the Marshall Center."

Buschmann received her degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Alabama in Huntsville in 1985 -- the same year she came to work at the Marshall Center. Before working in the Advanced Space Transportation Program, she worked in many areas at Marshall, including the Astrionics Laboratory, on the International Space Station design team, and headed the team that built the Soft X-ray Imager -- a solar activity monitor scheduled to launch aboard a weather satellite in 2000.

Among the many people Buschmann credits for helping her realize her achievements is her mother. She taught her daughter that she could do anything -- if she tried. "Even though she and I wanted different things out of life, she made me believe in myself." She looks up to those at Marshall who are "risk takers" -- those who aren't "afraid to make decisions or try something no one else has done before." As one of the "risk takers," Buschmann is working to lower launch costs and to open the final frontier -- space.