On February 18, 2021, Dr. Moogega “Moo” Cooper helped make history when the Mars Perseverance Rover successfully landed on the Red Planet. Part of the famed Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) team, Moo is blazing a trail as a real life ‘Guardian of the Galaxy’ holding the awesome responsibility of keeping the Red Planet safe from Earth’s contaminants. Now she is sharing leadership lessons learned from her inspirational journey to the top of a male-dominated field—space exploration, and insights on how perseverance pays off and how diversity makes the JPL team even greater.
Moo inspires others with her love of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics), her personal journey and the obstacles she overcame, and her fascinating tales of what it’s like to be a real life guardian of the galaxy. She holds the awesome responsibility of keeping the red planet safe from Earth’s contaminants. She also shares how important it is for people from diverse backgrounds to become the next generation of leaders in the fields of science and technology.