Amri Hernández-Pellerano is a Puerto Rican electronics engineer and scientist who designs, builds and tests the electronics that will regulate the solar array power in order to charge the spacecraft battery and distribute power to the different loads or users inside various spacecraft at NASA's

Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory located approximately northeast of Washington, D.C. in Greenbelt, Maryland, United States. Established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center, GSFC empl ...

. She designed the power systems electronics for the

Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP), originally known as the Microwave Anisotropy Probe (MAP and Explorer 80), was a NASA spacecraft operating from 2001 to 2010 which measured temperature differences across the sky in the cosmic mic ...

(WMAP) mission. WMAP is a NASA Explorer mission spacecraft which measures the temperature of the

cosmic Cosmic commonly refers to: * The cosmos, a concept of the universe Cosmic may also refer to: Media * ''Cosmic'' (album), an album by Bazzi * Afro/Cosmic music * "Cosmic", a song by Kylie Minogue from the album '' X'' * CosM.i.C, a member of ...

background

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

over the full sky with unprecedented accuracy.

Early years

Hernández-Pellerano was born and raised in Puerto Rico where she received her primary and secondary education. Her parents played an instrumental role in her life by encouraging her to pursue a college education. During her elementary school years, the subjects which she enjoyed most were math and science. She entered the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez after she graduated from high school. While in college, she was accepted into the NASA Cooperative Education Program which allowed her to work with NASA scientists at the

in Greenbelt, Maryland and at the same time earn school credits. She started working at GSFC full-time after she earned her Electrical Engineering Bachelor (BSEE) degree at the UPR. While working full-time, GSFC provided her the opportunity to complete a master's degree in Electrical Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University.Hernández-Pellerano

Career at NASA

In 1992, Hernández-Pellerano began working for the Power Systems Branch (PSB) at Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). As a Power System Electronics designer she has been involved in the design and implementation of power system electronics (PSE) for various scientific spacecraft. These include the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), the

(WMAP) and the Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) which are currently still in operation. Her responsibilities include the designing, building and testing of the electronics that will regulate the solar array power in order to charge the spacecraft battery and distribute power to the different loads or users inside various spacecraft.

WMAP mission

Artist depiction of the WMAP spacecraft In 2003, she received the GSFC Engineering Achievement Award for her design of the Power Systems Electronics for the WMAP mission. WMAP is a NASA Explorer mission spacecraft which measures the temperature of the cosmic background

over the full sky with unprecedented accuracy. This map of the remnant heat from the

Big Bang The Big Bang event is a physical theory that describes how the universe expanded from an initial state of high density and temperature. Various cosmological models of the Big Bang explain the evolution of the observable universe from the ...

provides answers to fundamental questions about the origin and fate of our universe. In 2006, she was awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

Currently

She is currently working on the Space Technology-5 (ST5), the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), the Lunar Reconnaissance Observer (LRO) and the Aquarius/SAC-D () missions. Hernández-Pellerano is also the chair for the Hispanic Advisory Committee for Employees (HACE) at GSFC. This committee works with the Equal Opportunity Office and among other responsibilities, serves as a focal point for the concerns of Hispanic employees on matters affecting their employment at GSFC. Hernández-Pellerano is married to fellow Puerto Rican Fernando Pellerano, a NASA scientist, whose job requires the planification, design and implementation of microwave instruments used in the scientific observations of the Earth and Space.

Written works

Among the written works which Hernández-Pellerano has authored and/or co-authored are the following:NASA Technical Reports Server
/ref> *The Space Technology 5 Avionics System (2004), Document ID: 20050156657; Report Number: IEEEAC Paper 1514 *Closed Loop Software Control of the MIDEX Power System (1998), Document ID: 19990007766 *An Adaptable Power System with Software Control Algorithm (1998), Document ID: 19990026561

References