Education and Early Career

Torres graduated from high school in 1971 and applied to Douglas College, a women's college now part of the Rutgers University System. She managed to piece together a major in space science from the courses available, "a little aerospace engineering here, some geology over there, some astronomy—"'anything space related.'"

Thanks to her determination and hard work, Torres found a job in the space industry almost immediately after graduation at Princeton, contributing to the institution's work on the Copernicus satellite. 

By 1980, she was the assistant manager of the computer and astrophysics department there and became a founding member of the Princeton Students for the Exploration and Development of Space chapter, or SEDS. In addition to managing the chapter, she also worked with students to produce educational programs on the benefits of space exploration, covered in the above article. Throughout her early career, she never lost sight of her main goal: NASA.

". . . (students) share dreams for the future with Miss Torres - the possibility of working with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration"

"Miss Torres" would soon get her chance.