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Page 6 The Skanner BLACK HISTORY EDITION February 22, 2017 Black History Stephanie Wilson: Making a Dream Become a Reality By Rushawn Walters Howard University News Service WASHINGTON — As a young girl growing in Pittsfield, Massachu- setts, a small town of 44,000 and 130 miles west Boston, Stephanie Wilson said she spent her nights looking up into the sky wondering what was out there. For a class assignment, Wilson got the chance to speak with an astron- omy professor at a local college who talked to her about space and the things that go on outside of Earth. From that conversa- tion, Wilson said, her passion for space and engineering and her future as a NASA astro- naut were born. Ulti- mately, she would make three flights aboard a U.S. space shuttle into space. “It really started a thought process about what other opportuni- ties were available and what were some other ways that I could func- tion in aerospace,” she said. “I also had an inter- est in working with my hands and understand- ing how devices are put together. So, I did decide to study engineering in college.” After graduating high school in 1984, she at- tended Harvard Univer- sity and received a bach- elor of science degree four years later in engi- neering science. Upon “ spacecraft that studied Jupiter, its moons and other Solar System bod- ies. It was launched in 1989 and arrived at Jupi- ter seven years later. Wilson focused on the spacecraft’s spin rate ac- curacy, antenna pointing accuracy and platform pointing accuracy. ‘I think my faith played an essential role in my career’ graduation, she got a job at the Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver as a loads and dy- namics engineer. Wilson later earned a master of science degree in aerospace engineer- ing from the University of Texas, where she re- searched the control and modeling of large, flex- ible space instruments, much like the structures and devices used at NASA. Wilson began working for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, as a member of the Attitude and Artic- ulation Control Subsys- tem for the Galileo space- craft, the unmanned In April of 1996, Wil- son was selected by NASA to be an astronaut candidate and reported to Johnson Space Center in August for two years of training. “A lot the choices I made were broad be- cause they would allow me many opportunities,” she said. As her first assignment, Wilson was assigned to work with Space Station payload displays and procedures, which deals with the actual weight of the spacecraft including passengers, cargo and other equipment. She then worked in the As- tronaut Office CAPCOM Branch as a prime com- municator with on-orbit crews, working in Mis- sion Control, managing space flights, usually from the point of launch until landing or the end of the mission. Wilson completed her first spaceflight on Space Shuttle Discovery in 2006 and logged almost 13 days, becoming the second African-Amer- ican woman to fly into space. Following that expedition, Wilson was assigned to the a second mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery that delivered the Node 2 con- necting module to the International Space Sta- tion. Between 2006 and 2010, Wilson went on a total of three expeditions to space. The astronaut said she credits God and her up- bringing for all the op- portunities and accom- plishments in her nearly 30-year career. “I think my faith played an essential role in my career,” she said. “I also think my family, friends and teachers played a part as well because they always encouraged me to go for my dreams.” Wilson is the recipi- Astronaut Stephanie Wilson ent of the NASA Distin- guished Medal, which she was awarded in 2009 and 2011, the NASA Space Flight Medal, 2006, 2007 and 2010, an honorary doctorate of Science from Williams College, the Harvard College Women’s Professional Achievement Award and the Harvard Founda- tion Scientist of the Year Award. She is still with NASA, working in the branch for operations of the In- ternational Space Sta- tion, NASA’s habitable artificial satellite that is in low orbit around the Earth. “I do believe I found my purpose in life,” she said.