Astronaut Jeanette Epps KF5QNU
Astronaut and radio amateur Jeanette Epps KF5QNU has joined the Boeing CST-100 Starliner-1 crew for a mission to the International Space Station.
ISS astronaut Sunita Williams KD5PLB answers questions from a student using amateur radio
She joins fellow crew members Sunita Williams KD5PLB and Josh Cassada KI5CRH on the first operational crewed flight of Starliner. The six-month expedition is planned to launch to the ISS in 2021 following NASA certification after a successful uncrewed Orbital Flight Test-2 and Crew Flight Test with astronauts.
While earning her doctorate, Epps was a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Project fellow, authoring several journal and conference articles on her research. After completing graduate school, she worked in a research laboratory for more than two years, co-authoring several patents, before the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruited her. She spent seven years as a CIA technical intelligence officer before her selection as a member of the 2009 astronaut class.
NASA assigned Williams and Cassada to the Starliner-1 mission in August 2018. The spaceflight will be the first for Cassada and third for Williams, who spent long-duration stays aboard the space station on Expeditions 14/15 and 32/33.
NASA press release
https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-joins-first-operational-boeing-crew-mission-to-space
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