NASA Astronaut Jeanette Epps To Be 1st Black Woman On International Space Station

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps has been assigned to NASA¡¯s Boeing Starliner-1 mission that is set to take off next year for the International Space Station. Once aboard the ISS for her six-month expedition, Epps will become the first black woman to join the ISS crew.

The significant spaceflight will also be the first for Jeanette Epps, who has been a member of NASA¡¯s 2009 astronaut class. With the recent assignment, Epps will join NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Josh Cassada for the mission. Williams and Cassada were assigned to the Starliner-1 mission back in August 2018.

NASA Astronaut Jeanette Epps and Astronaut Koichi Wakata (Image: NASA)

For those unaware, Starliner-1 mission will be the first operational crewed flight of Boeing¡¯s CST-100 Starliner spacecraft, the mission of which is to transport the crew to the International Space Station from Earth.

The spaceflight is yet to gain NASA certification after a successful ¡°uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 and Crew Flight Test with astronauts,¡± as per a release by NASA.

NASA Astronaut Jeanette Epps

New ISS Member

Now set to take her first spaceflight, Epps has been working with NASA since long. Prior to being in NASA¡¯s class, Epps was working with the US space agency while earning her doctorate. At the time, Epps was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow, wherein she authored several journal and conference articles on her research.

Epps has had other impressive achievements throughout her professional career. Post her graduate school, she co-authored several patents while working in a research laboratory. After spending more than two years at the lab, she was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Epps worked seven years as a CIA technical intelligence officer before becoming a member of the 2009 astronaut class.

The Starliner Mission

Boeing CST-100 Starliner Crew Capsule

The Starliner mission due next year is meant to transport NASA astronauts to the International Space Station. It will use Boeing¡¯s Crew Space Transportation or CST-100 Starliner spacecraft. As per its maker, the spacecraft can accommodate ¡°seven passengers, or a mix of crew and cargo, for missions to low-Earth orbit.¡±

Boeing's Starliner spacecraft is being developed in collaboration with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The program has been running since 2010 and in its tenure, has seen the US space agency collaborate with several American aerospace industry companies. The main goal is ¡°to have safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station.