CARIBOU, Maine — On Saturday, March 19, the Maine Women's Hall of Fame will honor two women from our state who have made big impacts in their respective fields: Julia "Judy" Karhl, an activist for women's autonomy and freedom, who was the founder of the group Grandmothers for Reproductive Rights, and Jessica Meir, a comparative physiologist and NASA astronaut, originally from Caribou, who also serves as a role model and mentor.
NEWS CENTER Maine had an opportunity to interview Meir via Zoom about what this recognition means to her and how she has overcome obstacles to get to where she is today. You can see that full conversation below.
Chloe: Tell me what this honor means to you. How excited are you for the big event?
Meir: You know, it really means a lot. Of course, when you go back looking at your home state and something as prestigious as this, it’s really kind of difficult to believe when you were there growing up as a small kid and looking at all of these heroes and heroines that were growing up before you.
It means so much, especially to look at some of these names that have been through there, like Susan Collins – of course, also from my hometown – and Olympia Snowe. These women who are really power players and these great mentors and sort of role models for all women growing up in that state during that time. It really is an absolute honor to be included among them.
Chloe: Looking back at all of your accomplishments, what would you say you’re most proud of during your time?
Meir: Wow, that's a big question. I think what I’m most proud of are really my efforts to try to share this mission with everybody because that is such an important part of it for me.
We know as astronauts that we are so privileged to be the very fortunate ones that are up there, but it’s not just about us. It’s not for our achievements or just our mission. It’s really for everybody, especially all of those people along the way that have helped play a role in me getting where I am today – and not even just for those people. Really, for all of humanity.
When we go forth and explore the cosmos, we are doing that as representatives of the planet Earth, and so I think it’s so important for us to be able to give back and share all of our experiences with everybody.
Chloe: You have been such a big role model for so many girls and women in our state. What does that mean to you, just to know that you’re someone a lot of people can look up to, especially with the STEM-related fields where we know there are fewer women and girls?
Meir: Sometimes it’s difficult to believe, and I kind of look back at my career, and I remember I wanted to be an astronaut from the time I was 5 years old.
I was looking up at these mentors and role models wearing these blue flight suits and flight jackets, and that was kind of what really encapsulated this role as an astronaut. So, when I was selected to be an astronaut in 2013 and put my first blue flight suit on, it was difficult to believe that I was the one wearing it.
All of these people that I had looked toward for inspiration, and I had seen them speak about the great things they had done – suddenly it was like the flipside, and there I was wearing this uniform now.
Sometimes it’s still difficult for me to believe.
Even on the space station, I would be floating on the Cupola looking down at our magnificent planet and thinking, "How is this even happening? How is this real?" and, "How is it that I’m the one here now?"
I do think that it’s a major responsibility. We don’t take that lightly here at NASA. Outreach and education are a huge part of our mission statement, and we know that we have that pedestal that we’re up upon, and we need to bear that responsibility to make sure that we continue to pay it forward. We continue to promote and inspire and excite the next generation. Because, I’ll tell you, it’s the next generation that’s going to do far more incredible things than we’ve even dreamed of yet.
Hopefully I’m able to do that in some way with sharing my experiences about my time in space and hopefully with my future career here at NASA. But just knowing that we have that responsibility to pay it forward, it really is something that we don’t take lightly.
Chloe: I know with all of your accomplishments, just in speaking with you before, it hasn’t come without obstacles along the way. Tell me, maybe particularly as a woman, have there ever been challenges that you’ve been up against that have just kind of presented barriers that you’ve been able to get past, though?
Jessica: I think that’s one of the most important lessons and something I always talk about when I am speaking to anybody, really, of all ages, and that is to remember that you do need to push yourself and to take a risk, to go slightly outside of your comfort zone, and to not be afraid to fail. That’s when the great things happen.
Sometimes I think people look at their heroes and look at their role models, and they think, "Oh, they’ve done it all. They’ve had this road, and they’ve succeeded at everything." But that’s never true. All of us have had setbacks. All of us have had challenges that we have to overcome.
For me, one example of that is the fact that I had applied before. I started applying to become an astronaut as soon as I was realistically competitive. And in the class of 2009, I actually made it all the way to that final round, the final 40 to 50 astronauts. I was here at the Johnson Space Center, interviewing and interacting with all of them, and I wasn’t selected that year.
We know realistically there’s such a small chance of it happening, so I walked away from that of course disappointed but [with] a little dose of reality. When the chance came four years later to apply again, I actually kind of took a step back and thought, "Wait a minute. Do I really want to put myself through all that again?" It does take quite a psychological toll. It’s a lot of effort to put yourself out there, to take that risk, knowing that you might fail again. But then I started thinking, "Well, I can’t not apply. If you don’t try, if you don’t take that risk, then you'll never succeed." So, I said, "I’m going to stop saying all of this nonsense. I’m just going to apply and see what happens because that’s really the only road to get there." I did, and here I am today.
But if I had stopped when I had failed before, and if I had kind of shrunk back and thought, "OK, it’s OK. Maybe I don’t need to put myself out there again," I wouldn’t be where I am now. I think that’s really the most important lesson that I like to strive to get across to people.
Chloe: What would be your main tip to young girls and women who may want to enter STEM fields but don’t really know where to start?
Meir: The exciting thing is that the STEM fields – science, technology, engineering, and math – open so many doors.
I love to encourage so many people to get involved in that because you never know where you might end up with all of that. There’s a lot of it diversity within that. Science, there’s biology, chemistry, physics. You can get into engineering, math. There’s so many different pursuits, but surely you can find one that really resonates with you.
That’s my biggest piece of advice: Make sure you find the one thing that you’re truly excited about, the one thing that just gives you that fire. That's your real passion, and then you’ll know. You'll know when you find it, and then you start all of the hard work.
You need to identify that particular passion, because I really do believe that is the only way to truly excel at something and then more importantly to be happy at the end of doing so. So, find that one thing. There are a lot of different options out there. Just find that one that really resonates with you. Go for it!"
Chloe: Looking toward the future, what are the next big goals on your agenda? What are those milestones you’re hoping to reach after this induction?
Meir: It’s a very exciting time right now to be a NASA astronaut. We have so many programs going on. We still have the International Space Station, which was my home for almost seven months. We still have missions going for the next several years back to the Space Station. We have new providers like SpaceX sending vehicles up. Hopefully Boeing will be on the way soon, again faring astronauts to the Space Station.
The most exciting part – we have the Artemis mission, and that is of course our NASA effort to return humans to the moon and specifically to send the first woman and the first person of color to the surface of the moon.
This is a really big week here at NASA. We’re rolling out that first rocket and capsule for the Artemis I mission this week at the Kennedy Space Center. That will launch in just a few months. And then after that mission, we'll be ready to put crewmembers on board.
I would absolutely love to be one of those crewmembers involved in these missions going back to the moon. I don’t know yet whether or not that will happen, but there’s no doubt I will be involved in some way because we all at NASA are working these programs in some way or another.
That is just such an exciting prospect, even if it isn’t me that returns to the moon, to think that I know the person that will be going. It is really just an incredible thing to be part of the NASA team right now.
Chloe: Do you know at what point we might know when you know when that decision will be?
Meir: Typically, we assign astronauts about a year and a half to two years before the mission. Once Artemis I launches – and that’s the un-crewed mission, so that will just be a test of the capsule and the rocket, and that’s the one that will launch in a few months – once that comes back, and we know how things went, then it will be about two years before the first mission where we put a crew of four people on that next rocket.
You can imagine after a few months go by and we have a chance to analyze the data, we will be assigning those astronauts. I would say probably before the end of the year. So, we'll know the astronauts for that first mission, and then a few months later, or maybe half a year or a year after that, we would know the astronauts for those subsequent missions. It’s definitely an exciting time ahead.
Chloe: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Meir: [I] just wanted to say "hello" to everybody in Maine. Thank you so much for all that you’ve done in getting me where I am today. I hope that I can continue giving back to all of you and sharing all of this with you.
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The Maine Women's Hall of Fame 33rd Annual Induction Ceremonies are happening at the Farber Forum in Jewett Hall on the University of Maine at Augusta campus. The program begins at 1 p.m. Face coverings are required.