Celebrating Astronaut Stephanie Wilson

Black History Month

In 1986, President Ronald Reagan issued Proclamation 5443, recognizing the importance of National Black History Month. Chosen in 2020 for the NASA Artemis Team to return to the moon, Stephanie Wilson, the second Black American Woman in space joined the 17 other astronauts on the mission team. NASA's Artemis program is a series of missions to the Moon that aim to reestablish a human presence on the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars. The program's name comes from the Greek goddess of the Moon, Artemis.

Artemis purpose is to explore the moon, advance technology, land the first woman, person of color, and International astronaut on the moon, and establish a permanent base on the moon to use as a launching pad for Mars and other space exploration. Wilson is a NASA veteran. In 1996, she was selected by NASA as an Astronaut Candidate.

On July 4, 2006 Stephanie Wilson made NASA space history on Space Shuttle Discovery as the second Black American Woman to fly in space to the International Space Station. (NASA photograph)

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Born in 1966, her parents worked in the sciences. Stephanie’s father, Eugene, used his electronics experience in the U.S. Navy to earn a degree from Northeastern University. He had a long and successful career at Raytheon, Sprague Electric, and Lockheed Martin. Stephanie’s mother, Barbara, was a production assistant at Lockheed Martin. In a pre-launch NASA interview in 2010, Stephanie said, “When I was about thirteen, I was given a school assignment in a Career Awareness class to interview someone that worked in the career field in which I was interested. I interviewed a local area astronomy professor. I thought that astronomy was a fantastic career, being able to teach, being able to see events in the heavens, and to do the observations. Later, I became more interested in engineering and decided that I would study engineering in college and perhaps that aerospace engineering would be a good combination of my interests in astronomy and my interest in engineering.”

In 1988, after high school, Stephanie attended Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering science. In 1992, Stephanie graduated from the University of Texas, earning her master’s in aerospace engineering. She was hired by the Jet Propulsions Laboratory in Pasadena, California. She focused on the Galileo spacecraft systems there. In 1996, she was selected by NASA as an Astronaut Candidate. By August, Stephanie was at the Johnson Space Center to begin the two-years of training and evaluation. Stephanie qualified for space flight assignment as a Mission Specialist. Initially, Stephanie was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch. She worked on Space Station payload simulations and procedure check lists. She served in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch working directly with Mission Control as the prime communicator with orbiting crews. Next, Stephanie moved to the Shuttle Operations Branch involving the Space Station Main Engines, External Tank, and Solid Rocket Boosters. All critical functions for the crew members.

Finally, On July 4, 2006, on STS-121 Space Shuttle Discovery, Stephanie Wilson and crew launched to the International Space Station. Stephanie returned on Discovery on July 17, 2006. Stephanie Wilson became the second Black American woman in space.

Stephanie Wilson an American trailblazer. (NASA photograph)

Her next mission launched October 23, 2007 for the ISS with the Harmony connecting module for the International Space Station. Astronaut Wilson flew a third time. In April 2012, on STS-131 Space Shuttle Discovery again reaching the International Space Station. This marked an historic space milestone for women when for the first time in history four women served together: Stephanie Wilson, Tracey Caldwell Dyson, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, and Japanese JAXA Astronaut Naoka Yamazaki.

NASA astronauts, Stephanie Wilson in the lower right corner with clockwise-Tracey Caldwell Dyson, Dorothy Metcalf-Linderburger, and JAXA astronaut, Naoko Yamazaki in the ISS. (NASA photograph)

Upon her return to Earth, Wilson again made more space history for women when Stephanie served as the ground controller and CAPCOM in Houston for the first all-women spacewalk. On October 18, 2019, Wilson coordinated the EVA by Christina Koch and Jessica Meir. Stephanie Wilson as one of the NASA Artemis astronauts might walk on the moon someday. Currently her 42 days in space are the most of any Black American female in NASA. Stephanie Wilson followed the advice of Dr. Mae Jemison, our first Black woman in space, who said, “Never be limited by other people’s imagination. Never limit other’s because of your own limited imagination!”

Video interview

Short video Stephanie Wilson Artemis Team Member https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-e&q=video+astronaut+stephanie+wilson#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:1f07c784,vid:pyGrcfUK2Ts,st:0