Judith Love Cohen wasn’t just any engineer. She helped save Apollo 13. While most of the world remembers the astronauts and the explosion, few know that the Abort-Guidance System—the tool that brought them safely home—was designed in part by her.
Born in 1933 in Brooklyn, Judith was one of the only women studying engineering at USC. She rose through the aerospace ranks at a time when women weren’t even expected to have careers, let alone solve spaceflight crises.
Her work didn’t stop there. She also helped develop the Hubble Space Telescope and Pioneer planetary probes, advancing science across the solar system. But her most legendary moment happened off the launch pad.
While heavily pregnant with her fourth child, Judith was stuck on a critical engineering problem. She refused to take leave until it was solved. On the day she went into labor, she brought the printout with her to the hospital. She completed the solution, called her boss to say it was done—then gave birth to Jack Black.
Yes, that Jack Black.
Later in life, she became a fierce advocate for girls in STEM, publishing children’s books that made science feel accessible and empowering.
Behind every famous mission is someone like Judith—quietly changing the world with equations, resolve, and guts.
