- Stephanie Wilson
Infobox Astronaut
name =Stephanie Wilson
type =NASA Astronaut
status =Active
nationality =American
date_birth =Birth date and age|1966|9|27|mf=yes
date_death =
place_birth =Boston, Massachusetts
place_death =
occupation =Engineer
rank =
selection =1996 NASA Group
time = 27 days, 20 hours, 59 minutes
mission =STS-121 ,STS-120
insignia = |Stephanie Diana Wilson (born
1966 inBoston, Massachusetts ) is an Americanengineer and aNASA astronaut . She flew on her first mission in space onboard theSpace Shuttle missionSTS-121 , and is the secondAfrican American woman to go into space, afterMae Jemison .Education
Wilson's educational background includes: Taconic High School,
Pittsfield, Massachusetts (1984);Harvard University (B.S. Engineering, 1988);University of Texas (M.S. Aerospace engineering, 1992).On
June 7 ,2007 , Harvard University announced that Wilson was elected to a six-year term on Harvard's Board of Overseers [ [http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/06.14/08-overseers.html Harvard Board of Overseers announces newly elected members] ] .Engineering career
Wilson worked for two years for the former
Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado. As a Loads and Dynamics engineer for theTitan IV rocket, Wilson was responsible for performing coupled loads analyses for the launch vehicle and payloads during flight events. Wilson left Martin Marietta in 1990 to attend graduate school at the University of Texas. Her research focused on the control and modeling of large, flexible space structures. Following the completion of her graduate work, she began working for theJet Propulsion Laboratory inPasadena, California , in 1992. As a member of the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem for theGalileo spacecraft , Wilson was responsible for assessing attitude controller performance, science platform pointing accuracy, antenna pointing accuracy and spin rate accuracy. She worked in the areas of sequence development and testing as well. While at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Wilson also supported the Interferometery Technology Program as a member of the Integrated Modeling Team, which was responsible for finite element modeling, controller design, and software development.NASA career
Selected by
NASA inApril 1996 , Wilson reported to theJohnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, she is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. She was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch to work with Space Station payload displays and procedures. She then served in the Astronaut OfficeCAPCOM Branch, working in Mission Control as a prime communicator with on-orbit crews. Following her work in Mission Control, Wilson was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch involving the Space Shuttle Main Engines, External Tank and Solid Rocket Boosters. Wilson flew aboardSTS-121 as a mission specialist. She also flew on theSTS-120 mission that delivered the Harmony connecting module to the International Space Station. [ [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wilson.html NASA biography] ] [ [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/wilson_stephanie.htm Spacefacts biography of Stephanie Wilson] ] [ [http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/s_wilson_profile.html NASA feature story] ]paceflight experience
STS-121 (July 4-17, 2006), was a return-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to the International Space Station. During the 13-day flight the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery tested new equipment and procedures that increase the safety of space shuttles, repaired a rail car on the International Space Station and produced never-before-seen, high-resolution images of the Shuttle during and after its July 4 launch. Wilson supported robotic arm operations for vehicle inspection,
Multi-Purpose Logistics Module installation and EVAs and was responsible for the transfer of more than 28,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the ISS. The crew also performed maintenance on the space station and delivered a newExpedition 13 crew member to the station. The mission was accomplished in 306 hours, 37 minutes and 54 seconds.STS-120 (October 23 - November 7, 2007) was a 6.25 million mile
Space Shuttle mission to theInternational Space Station (ISS).Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/index.html|title=STS-120|accessyear=2007|accessmonthday=October 10|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|year=2007|author=NASA ] It delivered the "Harmony" module, and reconfigured the P6 truss in preparation for future assembly missions.cite web | author=NASA|url = http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/192725main_STS-120_Shuttle_Press_Kit.pdf | title = STS-120 Press Kit | publisher = NASA |date=October, 2007|accessdate= 2007-10-21] STS-120 carried a newExpedition 16 crewmember,Daniel Tani , and returnedExpedition 15 and Expedition 16 crewmemberClayton Anderson . The crew conducted four spacewalks and performed a previously untested repair method on the station's solar array. The mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes, during 238 orbits.Cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts120/news/STS-120-32.html|title=STS-120 Status Report #32 - Final|accessdate=2007-11-07|publisher=NASA|year=2007|author=NASA]References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.