Take your daughter to space

So, you want to be an astronaut?

NASA's Ames Research Center offered parents, teachers and students a

chance to log onto a Virtual Take Our Daughters to Work Day that put girls

in touch with women who work at NASA, including shuttle astronauts Eileen

Collins and Shannon Lucid.

An Internet chat and forum were available Thursday.

The event was devoted to giving young people the opportunity to share

Take Our Daughters to Work Day and gain insight into their own future career

choices, according to a NASA statement.

Included in the forum was Stacey Morrison, deputy chief information

officer for the Space and Life Sciences Directorate at Johnson Space Center.

Morrison manages all the computers, hardware and software for the directorate.

Other participants included NASA public affairs officials as well as biological,

geological and nutritional scientists.

Lisa Malone, a public affairs officer at Kennedy Space Center, Fla.,

received a question from a girl named Meghan, who asked if women in technology

and biology are often denied jobs because of their gender.

"At NASA there are more men than women," Malone answered. "However,

the proportion of new employees coming into the agency in a variety of careers

is more balanced. At NASA we have a need for women in the biology and technology

careers and our chief scientist for the International Space Station is a

woman."