Dr. Aprille Ericsson calls herself a giant in science, then insists the word only applies because of the people who came before her. She said it at the Library of Congress while accepting recognition for work most people never see: an aerospace engineer who spent more than three decades at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, becoming the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Howard University.

Her satellite work has tracked rainfall patterns across three continents and helped chart a telescope's path into deep space, the kind of global reach that rarely announces itself. Underneath that reach sits a symbol older than any spacecraft: the Sankofa bird, feet facing forward, head turned back to retrieve what was left behind. What she asks us to reclaim, and what it costs to carry it forward, unfolds in her own words.

Key Takeaways

Dr. Aprille Ericsson's engineering doctorate from Howard University made her the first African American woman to hold one, and the first at NASA Goddard. Her work in spacecraft guidance and navigation shaped missions including the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission, the James Webb Space Telescope, and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The Sankofa symbol, a bird that looks back to move forward, frames how she understands innovation as inseparable from memory. Mentorship across the diaspora sits alongside her technical work as part of the same responsibility to the next generation of scientists.

In This Episode

[00:00] Welcome & Intro

[00:29] This Week's Quote

[00:55] Meet Dr. Ericsson

[01:54] Standing on Shoulders

[02:39] Reclaiming the Past

[03:16] The Sankofa Symbol

[03:56] Innovation Requires Memory

[04:21] Underneath, Not Behind

[04:43] Global Reach, Local Roots

[06:04] Mentoring the Diaspora

[06:47] This Week's Carry Question