Mary Golda Rice

1st known Native American female engineer

1 of 40 founding engineers of the Skunk Works at Lockheed Corporation

Contributed to NASA's Interplanetary flight Handbook, Volume 3 (1963) which detailed spacecraft flight paths to Mars & Venus

Spent over 30 years at Lockheed, most at Skunk works

Worked on preliminary design concepts for interplanetary space travel, manned & unmanned earth-orbiting flights, & the earliest studies of orbiting satellites for both civilian & defense purposes

Was fascinated by the stars & took every astronomy class she could

Was the 1st female engineer in the history of Lockheed

Earned a BA in Mathematics at age 20

Helped solve numerous design issues involved with high speed flight & issues of aeroelasticity

Most of her work at Skunk works is still classified

Worked on Polaris reentry vehicle, Poseiden & Trident missiles At age 96, wearing her 1st traditional Cherokee dress, she participated in the opening ceremonies of the National Museum of the American Indian in D.C.; left the museum a $400,000 endowment in her will

Is pictured on the reverse of the 2019 Sacagawea Dollar