Ann M. Drake’s commitment to ensuring women help lead the next wave of space exploration is reflected in a new exhibit that opened in May 2024 as part of the renovated Henry Crown Space Center at the Griffin Museum of Science and Industry.
The new exhibit showcases the SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft, which flew unmanned missions to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2017 and 2019. Its job was to deliver cargo and scientific equipment to the astronauts orbiting Earth. Also part of the exhibit are tools and food that astronauts used during the Apollo missions, plus a prototype garment and biofeedback belt worn by Mae Jemison, the first U.S. woman astronaut of color and a Chicago native.
“I think it’s so important to make sure women are involved in and helping to lead the next phase of space exploration,” said Ann. “This isn’t just about our long-term future. As we return to the moon — and beyond — we’re making incredible breakthroughs in areas that make life better now. And women need to be part of that.”
The Henry Crown Space Center opened in 1986 to showcase the artifacts, the technological and scientific breakthroughs, and the people who led space exploration beginning in the 1950s. Thanks to donors like Ms. Drake and former Chicago businessman Kenneth Griffin, the Center has undergone an extensive renovation to update the narrative on space travel in the last 20 to 30 years. In addition to existing treasures such as the Apollo 8 Command Module and the Mercury Aurora 7 Capsule, the revamped center features new multimedia and interactive experiences.
Ms. Drake, who is a Griffin MSI trustee, has been fascinated with space exploration for much of her life. Besides her gift to the Henry Crown Space Center, she supported restoration of the celebrated Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, WI, considered the birthplace of modern astrophysics. In 2023, she traveled to Chile’s Atacama Desert where an international consortium of scientists and universities are building the Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), the most powerful ground-based telescope ever engineered. Furthermore, in keeping with her dream of seeing more women leading the charge in space exploration, Drake has also funded a program at Griffin MSI to encourage more girls to enter STEM-related fields.
Drake’s professional career centered on supply chain and logistics. It’s fitting, then, that the SpaceX Dragon Spacecraft was primarily a supply chain tool, ferrying supplies, spacewalk equipment, vehicle hardware, and computer resources to the ISS.
Drake has long held that the next iteration of the world’s supply chain will be more than global; it will be interplanetary.
“In the future, I think we’ll have permanent outposts on the moon for research, manufacturing, and logistics, supporting journeys to Mars and beyond,” says Drake. “We’re going to need diverse perspectives to succeed at this, so how do we bring the best minds to the job? I believe women have huge gifts for collaborative problem-solving and systems thinking. Let’s guarantee that everyone gets to be part of this adventure.”