Melba Roy Mouton (April 28, 1929 – June 25, 1990) was an American mathematician who served as Assistant Chief of Research Programs at NASA's Trajectory and Geodynamics Division in the 1960s[1] and headed a group of NASA mathematicians called "computers".[2] She served as Head Mathematician for Echo Satellites 1 and 2 before becoming Head Computer Programmer and then Program Production Section Chief at Goddard Space Flight Center.
Melba Roy Mouton | |
---|---|
Born | |
Died | June 25, 1990 | (aged 61)
Alma mater | Howard University |
Awards | Apollo Achievement Award, NASA Exceptional Performance Award |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | United States Census Bureau, Army Map Service, Goddard Space Flight Center |
Melba Louise Chloe was born in 1929,[3] in Fairfax, Virginia to Rhodie and Edna Chloe (née Robinson).[4][5] She graduated from Howard University in 1950 with a master's degree in mathematics,[6] after receiving a bachelor's degree in mathematics with a minor in physics.[7] While at Howard, Mouton was president of the Kelly Miller Chapter of Future Teachers of America and a member of the NAACP, the Mathematics Club, and the Delta Sigma Theta sorority. She also was on the Dean's Honor Roll for four years, and was selected for the 1949-1950 Who’s Who among Students in American Universities and Colleges.[7]
She started working for NASA in 1959, after working for the Army Map Service and the Census Bureau.[6] The following year, Echo 1 was put into orbit, and Mouton led a team of NASA mathematicians (known as "computers") in tracking its orbit.[2] While at Goddard, Mouton was an instructor for a series of seminars on A Programming Language held at Watson Research Labs.[8] In a NASA symposium, she published a paper about the importance of investing in thorough, descriptive program documentation for projects which are to be maintainable over time.[9] She was also prominently featured alongside some of her African American colleagues in an advertisement in the Afro American designed to spotlight NASA's diversity.[10] Mouton received both an Apollo Achievement Award and an Exceptional Performance Award from NASA before she retired in 1973.[11]
Mouton had three children and was married twice, first to Wardell Roy and later to Webster Mouton. She died in Silver Spring, Maryland, on June 25, 1990, of a brain tumor at the age of 61.[11][12]
In May 2022, lunar mountain Mons Mouton (previously known informally as Leibnitz Beta of the Leibnitz plateau) at the lunar south polar region was named officially in her honor.[13] It is scheduled to become the landing site of the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover (VIPER).[14]
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