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.