When commercial astronaut Anna Menon ’08 completed SpaceX’s Polaris Dawn mission, she made history. As one of the few women to travel into orbit on a privately funded spaceflight, Menon helped set a female altitude record last year. Menon, a biomedical engineer turned mission director, began her journey as a John V. Roach Honors student, double-majoring in mathematics and Spanish. Her path is part of a long legacy of women who have reached for the stars — a legacy documented by another TCU alumna, Valerie Neal.
Neal, a 1971 graduate of what is now Roach Honors College, has spent years detailing humanity’s reach for the stars. Her path from TCU to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum is a testament to her curiosity and the importance of storytelling.
“At TCU, I learned how to learn, I learned how to think critically, I learned how to distinguish fact from fiction. I learned how to write clearly,” Neal said. I have always credited TCU as being my most foundational stage of education.”
After earning her bachelor’s degree in English at TCU and completing her honors thesis, Neal went on to earn a doctorate in history at Auburn University. She joined the Smithsonian in 1989, later becoming curator and chair of the Space History Department. She worked closely with several astronauts, engineers and specialists to preserve America’s space legacy.
In her recent book, “On a Mission: The Smithsonian History of U.S. Women Astronauts,” Neal tells the stories of the first six women to join NASA’s astronaut corps in 1978 — including Sally Ride, Judith Resnik and Mae Jemison — and the impact these women made on future generations.
Neal’s work brings together curiosity and storytelling to offer a deep look at how women transformed spaceflight from within. Her narrative follows how astronauts balanced technical precision with human vulnerability, ultimately revealing the emotional and cultural shifts that came with scientific progress.
“I wanted to tell two stories at once, one about the women astronauts and another about what was happening in the country at the time,” Neal said. “The culture was changing, laws were shifting, and new opportunities were opening up. The first women had very different qualifications from those who came later, who had more doors open to them along the way.”
Today, groundbreaking women like Anna Menon continue to expand what’s possible. After SpaceX completed its first all-civilian crewed mission to test human endurance and conduct scientific research, Menon is now part of NASA’s 2025 astronaut class.
“I think one thing we've learned as a society is that whenever you open the doors to a new group of people and give them the opportunity, they prove themselves, and they add to the knowledge, the capability, the excellence, the new ideas,” Neal said. “To me, it’s a matter of — women are resources, just as men are. Why not use all of our resources?”
Both Neal and Menon reflect the spirit of discovery fostered at TCU and in the Roach Honors College, with a drive to ask big questions, challenge boundaries and lead with purpose. Their journeys remind us that exploration takes many forms, whether it’s uncovering history or living it firsthand.