Paw Paw grad leads NASA team taking pictures of the sun

A 1999 Paw Paw High School grad has been getting national media attention recently for her success with NASA, reports the Paw Paw Courier Leader.

Sarah Mitchell led the team that got the Solar Dynamics Observatory into space. Launched last February, the Solar Dynamics Observatory is taking pictures of the sun using an instrument called the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly that Mitchell helped build.

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As a Systems Engineer and Flight Operations Lead, an average day's work for Mitchell, depending on what phase a program is in, could include leading planning meetings, writing requirements verification reports, operating the instruments on-orbit, supporting Integration and Test efforts or presenting reviews. She said she enjoys the variety of her job and always finds it interesting.

"When I was a kid growing up on our small horse farm in (Paw Paw), I used to stand in the horse's pasture with my mom and look up at the stars in wonderment," Mitchell said in an e-mail conversation. "I could easily see the Milky Way and often saw the Northern Lights dancing in the night sky. Space intrigues and boggles my mind."

To find out Mitchell's advice on how to succeed, read the rest of the story.

Source: Courier Leader