Dorothy Ruiz-Martínez

Dorothy Ruíz-Martínez is a Mexican-American aerospace engineer who works for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.

Biography She was born in Texas, and was raised by her grandparents in Matehuala, San Luis Potosí, Mexico, until she moved to the United States at age 16. During her childhood, she witnessed the tragedy of the Space Shuttle Challenger on television; this event fueled her curiosity about rockets and aerospace engineering.

Education She went to high school in the state of Texas, graduating with a B.S. degree in Aerospace Engineering.

NASA In 1998, she interned via the Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars program at NASA Langley Research Center in Virginia.

After graduating from college, she became an instructor for the GNC & Control Propulsion systems of the Space Shuttle, training flight controllers and astronauts She later worked 12 shuttle missions as a Real-Time Planning Engineer (RPE) contributing along with other engineers and scientist to the final assembly of the International Space Station.

In 2008, she worked in Moscow and at the Russian Mission Control Center as the planning liaison between NASA and the Russian Space Agency. The Houston-GC manages the ground communication systems and interfaces between the space vehicles and the earth.

Acknowledgments Her story was included in the book Stories for Rebel Girls (Editorial Planeta) in 2021.