Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, Astronomer
Dr. Nancy Grace Roman, Astronomer NASA

Former NASA executive, Dr Nancy Grace Roman who is also known as the "mother" of the Hubble Space Telescope, has died at 93.

She joined NASA in 1959 as its first Chief of Astronomy in the Office of Space Science at NASA headquarters and became the first woman to hold an executive role at the American space agency.

Dr Roman was involved with such groundbreaking programs as the Cosmic Background Explorer, and Hubble Space Telescope.

When Dr Roman retired 1979, she was at Goddard Space Flight Center where she served as the manager of the Astronomical Data Center. After the retirement, she continued working as a contractor at Goddard. Throughout her career, she has been a spokesperson and advocate of women in the sciences.