Trailblazer of the Week

Belinda Blakley

24 February 2023

Out on the farmlands of Iowa, the horizon hangs low. The Orion constellation sets over rolling hills and the Milky Way appears in a dark sky.

“I’ll never forget how dark it was, especially on the state roads between towns—there were so many stars,” says Belinda Blakley, a Pasadena City College (PCC) student and Lunar Trailblazer Science Communication intern. “Once, my dad pulled over near a farmhouse to point out a comet—I think it was Hale Bopp. I bragged to classmates for months about seeing it.”

As a Trailblazer intern, Blakley is now the one pointing out celestial objects and explaining their scientific significance. They began their internship in the spring semester of 2022, and have since produced a guide to the specific forms of lunar water and launched Trailblazer’s Wikipedia page.

“My goal was to create public-facing content that explained the science and purpose of the mission in an accessible way so that people can understand the mission—and then get excited about it!”

Blakley’s role has continued to evolve. They are not only a media creator and curator, but also an aspiring planetary scientist. In the summer of 2022, they switched gears and headed into the lab to measure the spectra of different ice and silicate mixtures. Different mixtures yield different spectra, enhancing our understanding of how the Moon’s silicate-rich regolith might affect water signals detected by Trailblazer’s instruments.

“Having a chance now to get into the lab and experience what planetary scientists do day-to-day is really exciting,” says Blakley. “But even writing the Wikipedia page—helping to get people interested in the mission and the Moon—was a fulfilling experience.”

Growing up in Iowa, around Chicago, and then finally in North Carolina, Blakley’s travels informed their professional aims.

“I grew up around Chicago for the first half of my childhood, spending summers and holidays in Iowa,” they say. “I spent the second half of my childhood near the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina, where my mother worked in drug development.”

Sometimes they even had the chance to accompany their mother to her lab. Watching her count and photograph viruses and cell tissue through a transmission electron microscope inspired Blakley beyond measure.

“I think that’s when my interest in biology really bloomed,” says Blakley. “Now, I’m working my way toward bringing these two passions together—I plan to focus on planetary astrobiology, and hope to one day work on missions looking for life elsewhere in our solar system.”

But it would be several years before Blakley enrolled at PCC. They first set out in fashion design and then fiber and material studies, building large-scale installation art and earning their BFA at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

“My art was always about seeking greater truth about the nature of the Universe and humanity's place within it,” they say.

Inspiration aside, Blakely says they had to be practical, too. They got a web design internship, and after graduation began their marketing career. And yet, another calling resounded.

“As soon as I graduated college, I wanted to go back for a second degree, but decided to take my time figuring out what I really wanted to study,” says Blakely. “I still love making art, but I wanted to pursue other passions.”

Two key events led them to planetary science. The first was a lecture at JPL in 2018 given by Erick Sturm, who was the Mission Planning Lead for NASA’s Cassini spacecraft. He spoke about planning the "grand finale" of the mission, which—after probing Saturn and its ring system for nearly two decades—concluded its groundbreaking voyage in 2017 in a dramatic descent into the planet’s atmosphere.

“It was the most exciting talk I had ever seen,” says Blakley. “I thought, I want to be a part of this.”

Their second influential event was a gift from their parents-in-law: Adult Space Camp.

“Yes, it’s a real thing!” says Blakley. “Everyone in my family knew that I loved stargazing and learning about the planets, but going to Space Camp and meeting people who were actual rocket scientists and physicists—and participating in simulated missions—made a career in space science seem like a real possibility. I came back home with my plans for a new career starting to take shape.”

After almost a decade working in business, Blakley enrolled at PCC as a part-time student. Since then, they’ve been driven to “say yes" to all early-career STEM opportunities, including the Caltech coding workshop Code/Astro, becoming a founding member of the Astronomy Club at PCC, getting a JPL internship, and now working on Lunar Trailblazer.

“I still have a ways to go,” says Blakley, “But I’m grateful for all of the chances I've already had to get my feet wet. I was in a physics class taught by Dr. David Imel, who manages IPAC at Caltech, and he told us about the Trailblazer opportunity. I applied and figured I could use my skills from my marketing career to help with the mission. As they say, the rest is history.”

Although school has been Blakley’s main “hobby” as of late, they still find the time for other fun activities and have somehow managed to pursue an entirely new—and oddly competitive—passion.

“Apparently I can’t keep myself from looking up all the time, so another one of my hobbies is birding,” says Blakley. “I got serious about it in 2017, and since then I’ve added over 300 bird IDs to my life list. Last summer, my partner and I went to Hawai’i, where I added more new birds to my list in an hour at a Honolulu city park than I did in five days on the Big Island.”

As a part-time student and part-time intern, Blakley finds it can sometimes be difficult to balance everything. They always want to do more, see more, and push themselves further, especially beyond Earth.

“Even if I won’t be able to "boldly go" to Europa myself, the idea that I could one day be seeking out new lifeforms is what keeps me going through tough classes and long days of work and school,” says Blakley. “I’m getting a chance to work on a NASA mission! How amazing is that?!”

Belinda Blakley is a Pasadena City College Science Communication Intern and Trailblazer of the Week!

Trailblazer of the Week is an ongoing series showcasing the diversity of experience and expertise that supports the collective determination of the Lunar Trailblazer mission.

By Emily Felder
Emily Felder is a Pasadena City College student and Caltech intern working on science communication for the Lunar Trailblazer mission.