On Wednesday, NASA announced the next two astronauts who will become International Space Station crew members – and one of them will become the first black woman to ever board the International Space Station.
Jeanette Epps will launch on her first spaceflight in May of 2018 and will work with astronaut Andrew Feustal at the International Space Station, who is scheduled to launch two months before her in March.
Culmination of a great week of training in Star City. pic.twitter.com/gUU1y319fM
— Jeanette J. Epps (@Astro_Jeanette) December 10, 2016
“Each space station crew brings something different to the table, and Drew and Jeanette both have a lot to offer,” said Chris Cassidy, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, said in NASA’s press release. “The space station will benefit from having them on board.”
Epps is originally from Syracuse, New York, and studied physics at LeMoyne College. From there, she completed a master’s degree in science and her Ph.D in aerospace engineering at the University of Maryland. She’s a member of NASA’s 2009 astronaut class and even worked as a technical intelligence officer for the CIA for seven years. As if she weren’t insanely accomplished enough, she will also now become the International Space Station’s first African American crew member – and an inspiration to women in STEM fields everywhere.
Who run the world space? Girls.