Photo of Moogega Cooper Stricker

Moogega Cooper Stricker

1985 - Present
Astronomy
USA USA

Personal Information

Born: 1985

Country of Birth: USA

Nationality: USA

Ethnicity: Black

Education

Hampton University BS Physics 2006; Drexel University College of Engineering MS 2008 PhD 2009 both in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Thermal Fluid Sciences

Professional Life

Field of Study: Astronomy

Institution/Corporation: NASA Jet Propulsion Lab

Degrees & Memberships: Honorary Degree: Drexel University (2022); Member: Fellow British-American Program (2019) Sigma Pi Sigma Beta Kappa Chi Alpha Kappa Mu; Golden Key International Honor Society

Awards & Achievements

Awards: 2018 NASA Early Career Public Achievement Medal; 2010-2011 Caltech Post-doctoral Scholar; 2006-2009 Harriet G. Jenkins Pre-doctoral Fellowship; 2018 Charles Elachi Award fro Exceptional Early Career Achievement; 2015 Drexel University 40 Under 40; 2012 NASA Group Achievement Award; JPL Voyager Awards for Technical Leadership; 2020 named 1 of 100 Most Influential African-Americans TheRoot

Achievements: "NASAáengineer working onáMars 2020árover; has worked on NASA's Curiosity rover Juno Mars InSight & Perseverence rover; first name means ""rainbow"" in Korean"

Her first name means rainbow in Korean

Lead of Planetary Protection for Mars 2020 Mission

Involved with the Insight Mission, the practice of protecting solar system bodies from contamination by Earth life & protecting Earth from possible life forms that may be returned from other solar system bodies

2013, participated on the first season of King of the Nerds, finishing 5th

2017, panelist in "The Original Martian Invasion" episode of Bill Nye Saves the World

Between 2015 & 2020, appeared in 33 episodes of How the Universe Works

Influential in making science accessible to more people by making it easier to understand