Frances "Poppy" Northcutt (born August 10, 1943) is an American engineer and attorney who began her career as a computer operator and was later a member of the technical staff of NASA's Apollo program during the Space Race.

[6][7] After graduating in three and a half years, Northcutt was hired in 1965 by TRW, an aerospace contractor with NASA in Houston, as a computress for the new Apollo program.

The operations manager had to schedule pay raises as frequently as possible so that Northcutt's salary was equitable compared to her male colleagues.

Apollo crews and the NASA Astronaut Office assigned unofficial names to lunar features for convenience in referring to them.

[15] On December 19, 2023, the IAU: WG Small Bodies Nomenclature (WGSBN) announce that the Main-belt Asteroid (355657)2008 EA89 was named "Poppy" in her honor.

[16][17] [18] While at TRW, Northcutt served on the company's affirmative action committee and advocated to improve its pregnancy leave policies.

She was so dedicated to improving equality that she counted women's versus men's bathrooms[clarify] throughout all of Houston, helping to bring even this number into parity.

][citation needed] Northcutt then switched into the TRW Controls division and during this time attended law school at night.

[6][citation needed] In 1984, Northcutt graduated summa cum laude from the University of Houston Law Center, becoming a criminal defense lawyer.

[6][10] Northcutt worked for Jane's Due Process, an organization that ensures protections for pregnant legal minors.