HOUSTON — Vanessa Wyche has a storied career at NASA. It spans 30 years, but to fully understand her love for science you have to go back to the deep south in the 1970s.
"I was the first to go all the way through integrated schools," Wyche said.
Wyche grew up in Conway, South Carolina. That's where she sparked her interest in engineering.
"I got behind the TV and started messing around with things to see how it worked and I shocked myself," Wyche said. "My grandma was old school. She didn't take me to the doctor. When I woke up the next day, I asked her what happened and she said, 'I told you not to mess with my television.' So, it's true and that was really the beginning of me becoming an engineer. I just wanted to solve the problem."
From then on, Wyche started solving problems, including when her career began at NASA in 1989.
"It looked very different than it does right now today in terms of our workforce," Wyche said.
Wyche is the first African-American woman to be Director at the Johnson Space Center.
"You kind of have this burden where you kind of feel like you're the first," Wyche said. "You're working and you got all these things that you're trying to figure out on your own."
Wyche figured it out and now she's in charge of thousands at JSC, but if you ask her about making history or being a trailblazer, "I don't really think about that when I come to work every day. I'm thinking 'what are we going to be doing today in space.'"
Despite all the awards and accolades, Wyche's work isn't what she's most proud of.
"I'm also a wife. I'm also a mother," Wyche said. "I do have a son and I tell everybody he's my best project."