Kristine Dietrich loves puzzles and challenges. By day, she satisfies that craving as an engineer with Sierra Nevada Corporation's Dream Chaser spacecraft project. She's part of a team responsible for the avionics of the craft. Its electronic and computer systems have to function properly, so there's constant testing and retesting, problem-solving and innovation. She goes through hours of mental gymnastics.
Then when she clocks out, she's ready for more physical puzzles.
Dietrich, 25, is passionate about parkour, a mix of playground skills, jumping, tumbling, climbing and obstacle-course racing. Athletes tackle designated courses -- usually in a gym, but sometimes outside -- that force them to balance, climb, jump, swing, run and even flip their way from Point A to Point Z over an assortment of structures.
