While Kate Dibiaski was looking at supernovas for research on the expansion of the universe when she found the comet, Dr. Amy Mainzer is specifically in charge of monitoring asteroids and comets that are passing near Earth as the principal investigator of NASA's Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (NEOWISE).
When director Adam McKay wanted to consult a woman working in astronomy, he turned to Dr. Mainzer. She and Jennifer Lawrence discussed being a woman in a field dominated by men, considering things like, "What does it mean to be true to your own identity in all the different ways that that manifests?" and "How do you bring that to your profession?" After these discussions, Lawrence settled on a "fierce and notice me" vibe for Kate, she told Vanity Fair, and picked out the character's standout hair style with the film's hair department (per Pop Sugar).
While Kate's refusal to play along with the government and news as they make light of the comet is certainly one factor that sharply splits her and Randall's trajectories, there's another dimension to it: As a woman, she's disregarded, while Randall is listened to. It's a common occurrence in science, Mainzer said to Tudum, so she has a recurring joke about it: "We need to just bring a man. If we bring a man, maybe the problem will go away."
Mainzer singled out one scene in particular, in which the president (Meryl Streep) calls the comet Randall's discovery. Although Kate discovered it, and is sitting right there, he doesn't correct her. "I thought that little snippet there is really on point because, of course, that happens to lots of people in many different contexts, based on many different aspects of identity, not just gender," Mainzer said.
