Melissa Luery Trempe was researching insects for a children’s book when she discovered an interesting fact: In 1999, four ladybugs were launched into space aboard a NASA shuttle in a scientific experiment designed by a group of schoolgirls from a low-income community in Chile. They wanted to know whether ladybugs—which eat aphids and other insects—could do the same in a zero-gravity environment, thereby allowing astronauts to potentially farm in space with a safe and natural pest control.

The discovery inspired Trempe ’03 Edu to write “an inspiring and kid-empowering STEM book” about a ladybug named Luna who dreams of going to space, and a girl named Natalia who helps her get there. Ladybug Launch: Inspired by a True Story of Chinitas in Space was published last April. Trempe co-wrote it with Natalia Ojeda, who was one of the Chilean girls involved in the original experiment, and the inspiration for her namesake character. Spanish words are sprinkled throughout the English-language book.

Trempe, who taught fifth and sixth grade outside of Philadelphia for 14 years, has always loved writing for children. As part of her elementary education studies, she wrote and illustrated her first book, sharing her childhood experience of seeing her mother fight against and survive cancer. In 2019, she retired from teaching to write full time. She wants to tell children stories about people—women in particular—who have worked hard to pursue a dream and find success. “I came from very little, and it was a struggle,” she says.

Trempe’s second picture book, The Girl Who Dreamed of Space, will be published in 2026 and is about Eileen Collins, NASA’s first female mission commander, who grew up in poverty and at a time when women were not allowed to be astronauts or even fly in the Air Force. —Cristina Rouvalis