Jeanette J. Epps has been a trailblazer for NASA, setting an agency record with her crew in October for the most time in space — 235 days in low-Earth orbit — on the SpaceX Crew-8 mission.
Epps was a mission specialist on SpaceX Crew-8, which launched to the International Space Station on March 4. The spacecraft returned to Pensacola, Florida, in October, concluding a nearly eight-month science mission and the agency’s eighth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station.
In June 2009, Epps was selected as an astronaut candidate for the 20th class of NASA astronauts and later qualified in 2011. She served as an aquanaut aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 18 undersea exploration mission for nine days in June 2014.
Epps received her M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, where she was inducted into the school’s Department of Aerospace Engineering, Academy of Distinguished Alumni in 2012.
In addition, Epps won the NASA Exceptional Performance Award in 2003, 2004 and 2008.
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