NASA astronaut confirmed as Shorter’s December Commencement Speaker
NASA astronaut Stephanie D. Wilson will be the keynote speaker at
Shorter College’s December 13 commencement ceremonies. The commencement
exercises will be held at 10 a.m. and at 2 p.m. in the college’s Winthrop-King
Centre.
Selected by NASA in 1996, Wilson has logged more than 28 days in space, and is a
veteran of two space flights, one in 2006 and one in 2007.
In 2006, she was part of a return-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to
the International Space Station. During the 13-day flight the crew of Space
Shuttle Discovery tested new equipment and procedures that increase the safety
of space shuttles, repaired a rail car on the International Space Station and
produced never-before-seen, high-resolution images of the Shuttle during and
after its July 4th launch. Wilson supported robotic arm operations for vehicle
inspection, multi-purpose logistics module installation and EVAs and was
responsible for the transfer of more than 28,000 pounds of supplies and
equipment to the ISS.
Her 2007 mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This
flight was a crew rotation flight, delivering 16 new crewmembers and returning
with a 15-crew member team. During the STS-120 mission, the Node 2 module named
“Harmony” was delivered to the International Space Station. This element opened
up the capability for future international laboratories to be added to the
station. In addition, the P6 Solar Array was relocated from the Z1 Truss to the
end of the port side of the Integrated Truss Structure. During the re-deploy of
the array, the array panels snagged and were damaged. An unplanned spacewalk was
successfully performed to repair the array.
A native of Massachusetts, Wilson graduated from Taconic High School in
Pittsfield in 1984 and went on to receive a Bachelor of Science in Engineering
Science degree from Harvard University in 1988. She later earned a Master of
Science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas in 1992.
She is the cousin of Shorter graduate Sandra Terry (’88), who serves as
assistant vice president for the college’s Professional Studies program.
