THE IMPACT. Dr. Rita Sambruna:

- Is an astrophysicist working on black holes in galaxies, and the Deputy Director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. She was awarded the NASA Extraordinary Achievement Medal in 2019 for her work at NASA and service to the profession.

- At Goddard, she Leads the DEIA (diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility) activities of her Division to improve diversity in astrophysics, connected to a broader new NASA program called Mission Equity

- Previously was a professor of Physics and Astronomy at George Mason University, in Fairfax, Virginia

- Is a certified yoga teacher, with specialization in Yoga for Cancer

- Is trained in Applied Behavior Analysis and its applications to non-human animals, and lives with 5 parrots

THE JOURNEY. In our conversation, we explore:

- Two merging inspirations from childhood: discovering the universe, and a humanitarian focus

- A take on billionaires going into space when we have other problems on Earth

- Planning in decades vs. bridging near-term needs

- The biggest challenge: changing culture, not only policies and numbers

- We are all made of star stuff: that is social justice