Updated: April 13, 2026

In the original pilot episode Maureen Robinson was introduced as: Dr. Maureen Robinson; a distinguished biochemist from the New Mexico College of Space Medicine. She is the wife of John Robinson, and, according to the unaired pilot, the first person other than an adult male to pass the International Space Administrations screening for Intergalactic flight. Though a brilliant woman of 35, she was described as perhaps too "maternal" for the adventures that lay ahead. Nevertheless, she is a brave leader when left in charge of the Jupiter-2.

Alpha Control Reference Manual:

Maureen Robinson was born the second daughter of James and Margaret Tomlinson. Her father was the founder and owner of Tomlinson Engineering Corporation, an aircraft navigation systems design firm.

She was educated at a private school for gifted children. Maureen had a normal childhood until her parents were killed in a plane crash in 1966. Her older sister, Colleen, who lived in Los Angeles, then became Maureen's legal guardian. Because of the tragic death of her parents, in later years, she would feel strongly about the well-being of her husband and three children, sometimes to the point of being over-protective.

Maureen graduated from high school in 1976, and then enrolled at the California Institute of Technology. She received her bachelor's degree in chemical engineering in 1980. While in college, she met a young student from New Mexico named John Robinson. They were married in 1977, and their first child, Judy, was born in 1978.

After college, Maureen worked at the New Mexico Institute for Space Medicine. In 1985, with the birth of Penny, she left her job to become a full-time mother and housewife.

After a while, she went back to school to obtain her master's degree, which she completed in 1991. She then began to work on a doctorate in biochemistry, which she received from the University of Taos ( New Mexico ).

She was at first shocked when John proposed the idea of becoming the first family to colonize Alpha Centauri. Though still reluctant, she finally consented, and John submitted their application to Alpha Control in March of 1993. Three months later, the Robinsons were chosen to be "the first family in space." They spent the next four summers in training at the United States Space Corps training facility in Houston, Texas. Maureen and her family left Earth on October 16, 1997.