While Sand Hill Elementary’s instructional supervisor Brigid Nesmith became a teacher so she could teach students about the solar system, her sister Cathy Bahm became an aerospace engineer so she could build the rockets and space shuttles that help humans explore the solar system.  

On Nov. 23, at the request of her sister, Bahm spent the morning at Sand Hill Elementary telling students about her job with NASA.

For the past 15 years, the Texas A&M graduate has worked for NASA and currently serves as the deputy program manager for the new Orion module being built at the Dryden Flight Research Center.  

The Orion will replace the current space shuttle fleet, which is being retired.

Bahm told the Sand Hill students that she decided when she was 8 years old to become the first woman astronaut. Although she did not become a member of a NASA flight crew, she has participated in several record-breaking test flights, including the X-43A (Hyper-X), which is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for flying faster than the speed of sound seven times.  

Bahm was visiting her sister Brigid and her family in Guyton for Thanksgiving but will return to her project in the New Mexico desert soon.

The Nesmiths have two children, Kiera and Coleman, who attend Sand Hill Elementary.