Yvonne Madelaine Brill was a Canadian-American rocket and jet propulsion engineer. She is responsible for inventing the fuel-efficient rocket thruster that keeps satellites in orbit today. During her career she was involved in a broad range of national space programs in the United States, including NASA and the International Maritime Satellite Organization.
Early life
Brill was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Her parents were immigrants from Belgium, making her and her two siblings first-generation Canadians. While she was in high school, one of her teachers told her that a woman wouldn't get anywhere in science. Her father wanted her to stay at home and open a little shop in town. She definitely did not listen to them. She attended the University of Manitoba, but was barred from studying engineering because of her gender, so she studied chemistry and mathematics. She graduated at the top of her class in 1945 with a bachelor's degree in chemistry and mathematics. She went on to study at the University of Southern California, where she took night classes and graduated in 1951 with a master's degree in chemistry.
Career
Brill's work in satellite propulsion systems resulted in a number of significant developments. She developed the concept for a new rocket engine, the hydrazineresistojet, and proposed the use of a single propellant because of the value and simplicity that it would provide. Her invention resulted in not only higher engine performance, but also increased the reliability of the propulsion system. The reduction in propellant weight requirements enabled either increased payload capability or extended mission life. Brill was believed to be the only woman in the United States researching rocket science in the 1940s. In 1945 she was recruited by Douglas Aircraft despite her lack of a degree in engineering to help develop the first American satellites. She put her career on hold in the 1950s to stay at home and raise her children. Then in 1966 she returned to the field, where she rejoined the Radio Corporation of America. Brill invented the hydrazine resistojet propulsion system in 1967, for which she holds U.S. Patent No. 3,807,657. Her invention became a standard in the industry and has translated into millions of dollars of increased revenue for commercial communications satellite owners. Brill contributed to the propulsion systems of TIROS, the first weather satellite; Nova, a series of rocket designs that were used in American Moon missions; Explorer 32, the first upper-atmosphere satellite; and the Mars Observer, which in 1992 almost entered a Mars orbit before losing communication with Earth.
A longtime resident of the Skillman section of Montgomery Township, New Jersey, United States, Brill died of complications of breast cancer in Princeton, New Jersey. An obituary of Brill published in the March 30, 2013 issue of the New York Times originally began: "She made a mean beef stroganoff, followed her husband from job to job and took eight years off from work to raise three children". The obituary was heavily criticized for leading with and overemphasizing Brill's gender and family life, rather than her scientific and career accomplishments and was cited as an example of an article that failed the Finkbeiner test. The Times later dropped the reference to her cooking and changed the lead of the article.
