Jessica Mink
She/Her
I am transgender and I am an astronomical software developer. //
I’m a positional astronomer at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory with degrees in comparative planetology. I co-discovered the rings of Uranus and contributed to the discovery of Neptune’s rings and detection of the extent of Pluto’s atmosphere. Since then, I developed systems and mapping software for a Space Shuttle telescope and data reduction and analysis data pipelines for spectrographs used to study everything from exoplanets to Large Scale Structure. Along the way, I wrote a couple of widely-used astronomical software packages, parented a daughter, became a bicycle and open space activist, changed gender, acted, sang, and played drums.