“My dad was the trigger in the process. He was extremely interested in space and was a child of those Apollo Moon landing times. He was fascinated with space all his life and he was excited about that in me,” Blackwell told Healthline.
But, when she found herself diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at the age of 11 years, She was aware that the disease was a barrier to her flying to space as a NASA astronaut. This realization made her consider reserving the dream of her life.
“Eventually I decided that I just couldn’t get it out of my head and even if I couldn’t be an astronaut, I still wanted to contribute in some way to the aerospace industry,” she explained. “[It’s] such an inspiring industry…even beyond all the technical things, it shows us how to solve problems and that no problem is too big.”
This is in line with her own experience with type 1 diabetes throughout her teenage years and adolescence. By trial and error, she figured out how to manage her condition and kept her dreams of space on top of her thinking. By doing this, she gained the drive to endure the toughest days.
“I knew in order to get to the other side, in order to work on the space station or figure out a trajectory to the moon, I had to get through this day with diabetes,” Blackwell said. Blackwell.
Living with diabetes while at work for NASA
After graduation, Blackwell worked alongside Army test pilots as an engineer of flight path. She flew aboard experimental helicopters and guided pilots and aircraft with the goal of collecting data.
Although she wasn’t involved in the Army, in order to get on the aircraft, she was required to obtain an FAA medical class III. Due to Type 1 Diabetes, she was the problem.
“At the time, it was a waiver process to get a class III medical, so I had to see a medical doctor, but I also had to send in a lot of data and information in order for them to actually grant me a waiver with that medical clearance,” Blackwell said. Blackwell.
Other aspects of her work, such as dunker training as well as a parachute training course and an altitude chamber, required her to advocate for herself.
“I had to sort of champion for myself and prove to the Army doctors that it was safe to do these activities even with type 1,” she added.
Her work at NASA began as a flight controller who is responsible for assisting international space flights from the Mission Control Center. The job certification is also a requirement for a medical certificate that must be checked every two years by the majority of people and each year for those suffering from Type 1 Diabetes.
She has recently taken on her new job in NASA’s upcoming campaign, the Artemis project, which will place one of the world’s first women and the first person with color on the moon, making use of cutting-edge technology to explore the lunar surface than before.
“My job now is to integrate all of these flight dynamics, so that’s stuff like a [rendezvous], propulsion, guidance navigation and control, trajectory,” Blackwell explained.
She manages a team comprised of experts involved in different aspects of a moon lander.
The mission has a full circle for her – from her father’s admiration of Apollo 11 landing on the moon in 1969 to watching his daughter’s contribution to making the second moon landing moon possible 50 years later.
“I am unable to wait. I’m not sure how I’m going to feel in the event of this mission,” she said.
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“I knew in order to get to the other side, in order to work on the space station or figure out a trajectory to the moon, I had to get through this day with diabetes,” said Blackwell. Images Provided by April Blackwell
Her advocacy for herself has inspired her to help others who have type 1 diabetes.
Blackwell’s first advocacy experience stemmed from defending herself in her work with the Army. In the process of obtaining FAA medical authorization, she started sharing her personal story through her blog and interacting with other people who have type 1 diabetes who were in similar situations.
“I had the opportunity to talk with a few people about how to go through the FAA medicalprocess. It was clear that telling your tale can be extremely powerful, and particularly the part that is connected to my dream of becoming the first astronaut in space,” she said.
She is a mentor for young adults who are interested in careers in STEM (Science, Technologies, Engineering, and Math) and aerospace.
“I tell them to find your passion because finding your passion is what is going to push you through your hard days, whether they are hard days because you have diabetes or because life is hard sometimes,” she added.
She also assists parents of children who have type 1 diabetes and aspire to become astronauts navigate conversations. As a mother of two kids aged 5 and 7, she understands.
“[As] a parent, you don’t want to stifle any dreams that your kids might have, but at the same time, you don’t want to give them false hope,” said Blackwell. “So, navigating those conversations can be very challenging and especially if that’s not your area of expertise, so I love talking to parents about that.”
The latest advances in the management of type I diabetes include insulin pumps as well as Continuous glucose monitoring devices that talk to each other, forming the “artificial pancreas,” Dr. Rifka C. Schulman-Rosenbaum, director of the inpatient diabetes program in the Long Island Jewish Medical Center explained that patients with type 1 diabetes are able to follow their passions and have goals.
“A the diagnosis of diabetes type I in the majority of cases will not affect the career options. Space flight is one of the rare exceptions,” she told Healthline.
As the technology for treating diabetes is constantly improving, the doctor. Karl Nadolsky, endocrinologist and diplomate with the American Board of Obesity Medicine, says they will continue to offer opportunities for individuals to live their lives fully.
“The new insulin pumps, known as ‘hybrid closed loops,’ which work with continuous glucose monitoring, really have data and anecdotal experience showing their benefits for patients and making their lives easier from the aspect of self-management,” He explained to Healthline. “[I’m] very hopeful as technology and even therapies for delaying overt hyperglycemia are rapidly improving.”
