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<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> said Tuesday that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/female-nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-artemis-lunar-landing-mission-2019-9">astronaut Jeanette Epps</a> will launch aboard <keyword id="6357957" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="boeing">Boeing</keyword>'s new <keyword id="8472813" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="CST-100-Starliner">CST-100 Starliner</keyword> spaceship in 2021.</li><li>NASA previously selected Epps for a 2018 flight, but the agency <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nasa-bumps-astronaut-off-june-spaceflight-in-rare-move-2018-1">abruptly removed her</a> from that mission just months ahead of its launch.</li><li>Had she made the flight, Epps would have been the first Black person to live and work aboard the International Space Station for months at a time.</li><li>Epps is one of 16 <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/active" target="_blank" rel="noopener">active</a> female <keyword id="73998" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="astronauts">astronauts</keyword> who may one day land on the moon with NASA's Artemis program.</li></ul>NASA astronaut <keyword id="9824103" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="jeanette-epps">Jeanette Epps</keyword> may finally be traveling to space.The agency <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-joins-first-operational-boeing-crew-mission-to-space" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> Tuesday that it has assigned the 49-year-old rookie astronaut to Boeing's Starliner-1 mission, slated to launch sometime in 2021.The mission is actually the second that NASA picked Epps to fly. But she never made the first one, a Russian Soyuz flight that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-trio-of-astronauts-blast-off-to-international-space-station-2018-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lifted off</a> in June 2018, because the agency abruptly bumped her from the crew about five months ahead of launch."I don't know where the decision came from and how it was made, in detail, or at what level," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-jeanette-epps-nasa-astronaut-taken-off-iss-mission-2018-6">Epps said</a> during <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXxJ2OUgaiU&amp;t=2170s170s">a conference</a> in 2018 conference, but <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-astronaut-still-baffled-by-removal-from-iss-mission/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noted</a> it was not medically related. "There were Russians, several of them, who defended me in the sense that it's not safe to really remove someone from a crew that has trained together for years."NASA told Business Insider in a statement that a "number of factors are considered when making flight assignments," adding that "decisions are personnel matters for which NASA doesn't provide information."Despite the disappointing turn of events, Epps kept her composure over the years."Sometimes things don't go the way that you planned," she told "<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsiderToday/">Business Insider Today</a>" in 2019. "But I'm still in the astronaut corps."With her fresh assignment, Epps is once again poised to make history. The mission is to scheduled to be the first operational flight of Boeing's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-software-errors-jeopardized-starliner-spaceship-737-max-planes-2020-2">CST-100 Starliner</a> spacecraft, which should follow an uncrewed launch (possibly later this year) and a crewed flight test in 2021.<h2>Epps will live and work aboard the space station for half a year</h2><div type="image" title="international space station" height="2832" width="3776" msid="77752307" hostid="261"></div>NASA selected Epps, an aerospace engineer, to be an astronaut in 2009. Prior to that, she worked at Ford Motor Company as a research scientist before moving on to the Central Intelligence Agency, where she was as a technical intelligence officer for more than seven years, according to her <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jeanette-j-epps/biography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">biography</a>.The Starliner-1 mission's destination is the International Space Station, a facility that orbits 250 miles above Earth, and which people have inhabited continuously for <a href="https://www.issnationallab.org/about/iss-timeline/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 years</a>. During her new upcoming mission, Epps will live and work aboard the $150 billion, football field-size laboratory for about six months.Epps has not yet flown to space. She will join fellow spaceflight rookie <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/josh-a-cassada/biography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Josh Cassada</a> and veteran <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/sunita-l-williams/biography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sunita Williams</a>. Williams, the Starliner-1 mission's commander, has <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-suni-williams-on-spacex-boeing-spaceships-2018-6">worked with Boeing and SpaceX</a> over the past six years on the design and functionality of their new <keyword id="1313914" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="spaceships">spaceships</keyword> through NASA's <keyword id="1046834" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="Commercial-Crew-program">Commercial Crew Program</keyword>."I can't wait for her to join our crew," Williams said in a video she <a href="https://twitter.com/Astro_Suni/status/1298280432379793408" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted</a> on Tuesday.Cassada tweeted <a href="https://twitter.com/astro_josh/status/1298286008686055427" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a humorous video</a> congratulating Epps, who grew up in Michigan, on her crew assignment."Just a couple of things I think we need to get sorted out. I know we both claim Michigan, I'm not going to arm-wrestle you for it — I've seen you in the gym. So maybe we can split it?" Cassada said. "The only other thing we need to get sorted out is, on the Starliner, I call shotgun."Starliner launched and landed on its first uncrewed mission, called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-cst-100-starliner-spaceship-orbital-flight-test-mission-rescue-2019-12">Orbital Flight Test</a>, in December 2019. However, the spacecraft experienced two "<a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2020/03/06/nasa-update-on-orbital-flight-test-independent-review-team/">high visibility close calls</a>" that might have resulted in the loss of the spacecraft, NASA said earlier this year.<div type="image" title="boeing cst 100 starliner spaceship nasa commercial crew program ccp orbital flight test oft landing white sands new mexico 49258250868_0e5795b4a9_3k" height="1173" width="1564" msid="77752309" hostid="261"></div>Boeing is now fixing its software, systems, and procedures to rectify the problems, and — at a cost of <a href="https://spacenews.com/boeing-takes-410-million-charge-to-cover-potential-additional-commercial-crew-test-flight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$410 million</a> to the company — plans to refly the mission later this year. Assuming there are no further issues, veteran astronaut Mike Fincke, retired astronaut Chris Ferguson, and <a href="https://blogs.nasa.gov/commercialcrew/2018/08/03/meet-the-astronauts-flying-boeings-crew-flight-test/">rookie astronaut</a> Nicole Mann will fly the first experimental crewed flight in 2021.NASA appears unfazed by <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/international-space-station-small-air-leak-nasa-says-no-danger-2020-8">a small air leak</a> aboard the ISS, which a three-person crew is currently helping root out and repair.Had NASA allowed Epps to fly on the 2018 Soyuz mission, she would have been the first <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arnaldo-tamayo-mendez-first-black-person-astronaut-cosmonaut-reach-orbit-2020-6">Black astronaut</a> to live and work aboard the ISS for an extended amount of time. However, that honor will likely go to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/victor-j-glover/biography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Victor Glover</a>, who's slated to fly NASA's next commercial mission with people, called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spacex-crew-1-mission-launch-late-october-2020-8">Crew-1</a>. (SpaceX <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-crew-dragon-spaceship-nasa-astronauts-mission-landing-surprises-demo2-2020-8">successfully</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-launches-historic-rocket-mission-nasa-astronauts-demo-2-2020-5">launched</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-safely-splashes-down-nasa-astronauts-crew-dragon-demo2-mission-2020-8">returned</a> its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronauts-doug-hurley-bob-behnken-biography-spacex-demo2-2020-5">first astronaut crew</a> on an experimental flight earlier this year.)Similar to Starliner-1, the Crew-1 mission will be SpaceX's first operational flight of its commercial spaceship, called Crew Dragon. That mission is slated to fly to the space station <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spacex-crew-1-mission-launch-late-october-2020-8">as soon as October 23</a>, and Glover will launch with fellow astronauts <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/shannon-walker/biography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shannon Walker</a> and <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/michael-s-hopkins/biography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mike Hopkins</a>, as well as JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut <a href="https://iss.jaxa.jp/en/astro/biographies/noguchi/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Soichi Noguchi</a>. The Starliner-1 mission could prove especially important to Epps' career, in that she is one of 16 active female astronauts in NASA's corps who may <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">return humans to the moon</a>. Jim Bridenstine, the agency's administrator, has repeatedly said NASA's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-artemis-moon-base-apollo-space-rocket-sls-2019-9">Artemis program</a> will fly the first woman and the next man to the lunar surface in 2024."Business Insider Today" asked Epps about that possibility during a 2019 interview."It's mind-blowing to think about being the first [woman] to step on this object that you see in the night sky," she said. "I would hope that my mission would inspire the next generation of women, of all engineers and all scientists to kind of propel us forward, even beyond Mars."Correction (9:00 p.m. ET): NASA astronaut Victor Glover is poised to be the first Black person to live and work aboard the International Space Station for an extended time, not Jeanette Epps, as a previous version of this story stated. We regret the error.This story has been updated with new information.

NASA just selected astronaut Jeanette Epps for a historic space mission by Boeing — 2 years after the agency abruptly bumped her from a first flight

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasa2explore/9372740338">NASA Johnson/Shutterstock</a>Jeanette Epps.</div></div></div><ul><li>Jeanette Epps was about to become the first African American to live at the International Space Station.</li><li>But NASA announced in January it was replacing her with another astronaut. Epps said this week that she still doesn't know why.</li><li>Appearing at a conference, Epps said she didn't want to speculate that the decision was racist or sexist, an accusation many critics made after the announcement.</li></ul>Jeanette Epps was preparing for a historic launch to the International Space Station in January when NASA suddenly pulled her off the mission without warning.Epps is still waiting for an explanation, <a href="https://www.chron.com/news/nation-world/space/amp/Jeanette-Epps-doesn-t-know-why-NASA-booted-her-13018349.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Houston Chronicle reported</a>.In a <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-updated-crew-assignments-for-space-station-missions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">January press release</a>, NASA announced that Epps would not be part of the Expedition 56/57 crew as previously announced and that she would "return to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston to assume duties in the Astronaut Office and be considered for assignment to future missions."<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2018/1/18/16907790/nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-international-space-station-iss-2018-expedition-serena-aunon-chancellor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rachel Becker of The Verge</a> noted that although other African Americans had been to the International Space Station, Epps would have been the first to live and work there on a long-term basis.On June 6, the six-month mission launched without Epps. NASA sent Serena Auñón-Chancellor in her place, making Auñón-Chancellor the first Hispanic woman to live on the ISS.Speaking about the issue for the first time at the<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXxJ2OUgaiU&amp;feature=youtu.be&amp;list=PLfZs0MfL4I2Ai3meEDB84aAfV9WF2OSDK" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Tech Open Air Festival</a> this week, Epps told <a href="https://www.space.com/40970-nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-reassignment-comments.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Space.com</a> reporter Megan Gannon that she did not have any of the health of family issues that are typical reasons for crew changes. Epps said crew members have been taken off missions before, "but not in the same fashion that this was done, partly because I was so close to launch."Epps believes the decision originated at NASA and not with their Russian flying partners, who she said were supportive."I don't know where the decision came from and how it was made, in detail or at what level," she said. "I seriously do not believe it was the Russians, partly because I had been through the training with them and I was able to develop good working relationships with everyone there."Since NASA's announcement to remove Epps from the mission, the space program has received complaints of <a href="http://www.newsweek.com/nasa-astronaut-african-american-iss-removal-786358" target="_blank" rel="noopener">racism</a> and <a href="https://thegrio.com/2018/01/22/brother-black-astronaut-racism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sexism</a>."There's no time to really be concerned about sexism and racism and things like that, because we have to perform," Epps told Gannon during the interview. "I can't speculate what people are thinking and doing unless I have a little bit more information."Before becoming an astronaut in 2009, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jeanette-j-epps/biography" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Epps</a>, a native New Yorker, worked at Ford Motor Company and the CIA. <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/what-would-happen-if-humans-tried-landing-on-jupiter-space-2018-2">What would happen if humans tried to land on Jupiter</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

Jeanette Epps would have been the first black astronaut to live on the Space Station, but NASA bumped her, and she says they never told her why

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Four astronauts splashed down Friday after eight months on board the ISS.</li><li>Their return to Earth was delayed to deal with issues related to Boeing's Starliner.</li></ul>Four astronauts have returned to Earth with <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk">Elon Musk</a>'s SpaceX after issues with <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-faa-should-punish-boeing-starliner-not-spacex-9">Boeing's Starliner delayed their mission</a>.<a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-elon-musk">SpaceX</a> Crew-8 splashed down off the coast of Pensacola, Florida at 3:29 a.m. ET on Friday, NASA <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/back-on-earth-nasas-spacex-crew-8-mission-splashes-down-off-florida/">said</a>.NASA astronauts Matthew Dominick, Michael Barratt, and Jeanette Epps, as well as Alexander Grebenkin from Russia's Roscosmos space agency, spent almost eight months on the International Space Station.They took off on March 4 aboard SpaceX's reusable spacecraft, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-crew-dragon-capsule-what-its-like-inside-2018-8">Crew Dragon</a> Endeavour, which was launched by a <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-falcon-9-launches-updates-schedule">Falcon 9</a> rocket.Routine space missions usually last about six months, and Crew-8 was initially scheduled to return home in August.However, Crew-8's time in space was extended as NASA investigated <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-starliner-spaceship-delays-astronauts-return-earth-2024-6">helium leaks on the Boeing Starliner</a> mission that launched in June.The Starliner astronauts Barry E. Wilmore and Sunita Williams were supposed to be in space for eight days but are now set to return after eight months.Crew-8's return was further postponed to install extra seats on Endeavour for Wilmore and Williams in case of an emergency evacuation.Then, Hurricane Milton caused poor weather conditions in the planned splashdown zone near Florida, adding to the delay.Boeing's Starliner spacecraft returned uncrewed last month. Wilmore and Williams are scheduled to leave the ISS in February 2025 on board <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-launches-half-empty-dragon-spaceship-boeing-astronaut-crew-return-2024-9">SpaceX Crew-9</a>.

Elon Musk's SpaceX brings ISS astronauts back to Earth after Boeing Starliner problems delayed their return

Projected to last only days, the first crewed test flight of <keyword id="19915275" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Boeing" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Boeing" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="Boeing">Boeing</keyword>'s <keyword id="20138728" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="starliner" source="keywords">Starliner</keyword> <keyword id="19982902" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spacecraft" source="keywords">spacecraft</keyword> with two <keyword id="20038917" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="astronauts" source="keywords">astronauts</keyword> onboard is in limbo with no exact return to Earth announced. <keyword id="19935155" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="NASA" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="NASA" meta.hostid="153" meta.entityid="NASA">NASA</keyword>'s <keyword id="20430894" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Commercial-Crew-Program" source="keywords">Commercial Crew Program</keyword> manager, Steve Stich has said that the US space agency is considering extending the duration of Starliner's mission from 45 days to 90 days, CNN reported. Officials have repeatedly hinted that the Starliner, which faced issues with helium leaks and thruster outages heading to the International <keyword id="20073557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="space-station" source="keywords">Space Station</keyword> in early June, will be safe to bring astronauts including indian-origin Sunita 'Suni' Williams and Butch Wilmore home. On Friday, Stich said that NASA is considering extending the maximum length of Starliner's mission from 45 days to 90 days and there is no firm return date on the horizon, according to CNN report. Addressing a briefing on Friday, the NASA official said, "We're just looking at the timeline to execute (the test in New Mexico) and then review the data." He further said, "And that's what's really the long pole, I would say, determining a landing date." Stich added, "We're not in a rush to come home." Part of that desired extension is due to the ground tests that Boeing and NASA plan to conduct in New Mexico, seeking to better understand why some of the Starliner's thrusters unexpectedly failed during the first leg of its journey. Stich and Mark Nappi, vice president and program manager of the Commercial Crew Program for Boeing, also said that engineers are still not certain about the reason behind the Starliner's problems. Nappi said that part of the aim is conducting the ground tests while the vehicle is still in space is to try to whittle down possible reasons why the thrusters malfunctioned. Mark Nappi said, "So, if (the test in New Mexico) comes back and gives us all the answers, then we can just undock and come home." He added, "If it comes back and says, 'Here's 80 per cent of the answer. And if you just run one more docked hot fire (test on the Starliner in orbit), then you can get 100 per cent of the answers' -- then we want (Starliner) to be there so that we can get that information." Meanwhile, Williams and Wilmore have integrated with the rest of the crew currently aboard the International Space Station and are conducting routine tasks. Several more helium leaks were identified while the craft was heading to the International Space Station, along with the thruster issues. The Starliner's service module, a cylindrical attachment at the bottom of the spacecraft that provides much of the vehicle's power during flight, faced several issues, CNN reported. As per the design, the service module will not survive the return to Earth. The module is jettisoned and destroyed as the Starliner spacecraft reenters the atmosphere and that's the reason why Boeing and NASA teams then opted to leave the Starliner spacecraft safely docked with the space station while they worked to learn as much as possible about those issues. It is not clear yet whether NASA will extend the maximum mission length to 90 days. Stich said officials must clear the battery life of the Starliner for that purpose. Although he noted that the batteries are being recharged at the space station, they should operate the same way after 90 days as they will for the first 45 days. The spaceflight industry frequently experiences cost overruns, delays and unmet deadlines. However, Boeing has faced challenges that have stood out, particularly when the Starliner program is directly compared with SpaceX's Crew Dragon, CNN reported. Crew Dragon, which falls under the same NASA Commercial Crew Program for astronaut transportation, completed its first test flight in 2020 and has been carrying out routine missions ever since. SpaceX did not have the benefit of designing the Crew Dragon spacecraft off the back of its Cargo Dragon vehicle, which for years sent supplies to the International Space Station before its successor started operating while Boeing designed Starliner from scratch. Nappi said, "We've got a really good test flight that's been accomplished so far, and it's being viewed rather negatively." In the latest update regarding the ongoing space mission, the Expedition 71 crew members on Friday packed a US cargo craft, cleaned up the International Space Station, studied techniques of futuristic piloting, and carried out eye exams. NASA's Boeing Crew Flight Test astronauts spent the day reconfiguring a space botany facility. In its live blog, NASA stated, " Robotics controllers are scheduled to detach the Cygnus space freighter from the Unity module on July 12 and release it into Earth orbit for disposal over the South Pacific Ocean ending a five-and-a-half-month mission at the orbital lab." NASA Flight Engineer Matthew Dominick spent most of the time on Friday on loading trash and discarding gear inside the Cygnus with assistance from fellow NASA astronauts Jeanette Epps and Tracy C Dyson. Canadarm2 robotic arm captured the Cygnus on February 1, with more than 8200 pounds of science experiments and crew supplies. Epps operated standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist's office on Earth and peered into Dyson's eyes. She examined the cornea, retina, and lens of Dyson to help flight surgeons understand and counteract microgravity's effect on crew vision. Earlier, Dyson collected and stowed excess space station hardware for disposal. During the day, NASA Flight Engineer Mike Barratt routed cables and reprogrammed communications systems inside the Columbus laboratory module. He stowed hardware and components used earlier in the week for advanced orbital plumbing in the Tranquility module's bathroom. Mike Barratt refilled supply kits in Columbus' two Human Research Facility racks with biomedical gear, including sample tubes and needles. On Friday, Starliner's Commander and Pilot, Butch Wilmore and <keyword id="21544825" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Sunita-Williams" source="keywords">Sunita Williams</keyword> in Kibo conducted space botany work. They removed the Plant Habitat growth chamber from Kibo's EXPRESS rack, replaced its camera and carbon dioxide sensors, then reinstalled the research device. In the liveblog, NASA said, "NASA and Boeing continue to evaluate Starliner's propulsion system performance before returning to Earth from the orbiting lab. NASA and Boeing leaders participated in a media teleconference today to discuss Starliner and station operations." "NASA is now targeting the end of July for the next spacewalk outside the space station. This change allows teams on the ground to continue to troubleshoot and understand the water leak in the service and cooling umbilical unit that forced an early end to a spacewalk on Monday, June 24," it added. Flight Engineer Nikolai Chub practiced planetary spacecraft and robotic piloting techniques future crew members and conducted two sessions of an investigation exploring ways to create new materials on the lunar surface. Meanwhile, Flight Engineer Alexander Grebenkin worked throughout the day inventorying medical kits and cleaning fans inside the Rassvet module and Station Commander Oleg Kononenko replaced thermal components in Roscosmos' life support hardware.

Boeing Starliner with Sunita Williams onboard could wait months in space before return as NASA mulls extending mission duration

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Jessica Watkins will be the first Black woman to live and work aboard the <keyword id="11969448" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="international-space-station" source="Orion">International Space Station</keyword>.</li><li>Watkins will leave in April 2022 with three other astronauts and spend six months on the <keyword id="12060330" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="iss" source="Orion">ISS</keyword>.</li></ul>A 33-year-old <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="nasa" source="Orion">NASA</keyword> astronaut will be the first Black woman to live and work at the International <keyword id="11895441" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="space" source="Orion">Space</keyword> Station, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-assigns-astronaut-jessica-watkins-to-nasa-s-spacex-crew-4-mission">NASA announced</a> earlier this month.Jessica Watkins will depart in April 2022 with three other astronauts — Kjell Lindgren and Robert Hines of NASA, and Samantha Cristoforetti of the European Space Agency, according to NASA. She is assigned to serve as a mission specialist on NASA's SpaceX Crew-4, which will last for six months. This will be Watkins' first time in space.Watkins was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland, and raised in Lafayette, Colorado, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/16/science/jessica-watkins-nasa-spacex.html">The New York Times</a> reported. She later graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelor of <keyword id="11896083" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="science" source="Orion">Science</keyword> in Geological and Environmental Sciences and then from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Doctorate in Geology.The 33-year-old joined the Astronaut Candidate Class in 2017 where she underwent two years of training. According to <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jessica-watkins/biography">her biography</a> on NASA's website, her training "included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in International Space Station systems, spacewalks, robotics, physiological training, T-38 flight training, water and wilderness survival training, geology training, and expeditionary skills training."Watkins told The Times that she hopes her mission will inspire children of color, and "particularly young girls of color, to be able to see an example of ways that they can participate and succeed.""For me, that's been really important, and so if I can contribute to that in some way, that's definitely worth it," she added.Watkins is also set to step foot on the moon with the Artemis team in 2024, <a href="https://www.space.com/nasa-artemis-astronauts-for-moon-landing-unveiled">according to Space.com</a>. NASA astronauts haven't been on the moon since the final Apollo mission in 1972. NASA sent the first Black American, Guion S. Bluford, to space in 1983. Mae Jemison was the first Black woman to enter space in 1992 with the Space Shuttle Endeavor team.In 2018, astronaut Jeanette Epps was meant to become the first Black woman to join the ISS crew, but NASA replaced her with Serena Auñón-Chancellor instead, The Times reported. It's unclear why NASA made the switch. NASA did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

A NASA astronaut is set to become the first Black woman to live and work at the International Space Station

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://images.nasa.gov/details-jsc2017e129183.html">NASA</a>NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps in a spacesuit in 2017.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Jeanette Epps is one of 13 female <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/astronauts">astronauts</a> in the agency's corps who may be the first woman to land on the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/moon">moon</a>.</li><li>NASA is currently looking to send a man and a woman to the lunar surface in 2024 as part of a new crash program called <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/artemis">Artemis</a>.</li><li>Epps said it'd be "mind-blowing" to be selected, and if she was, she hopes her mission would inspire a new generation of women engineers and scientists.</li><li>However, it's not certain if Congress will give <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/nasa">NASA</a> the funding it needs to get Artemis off the ground on-time.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul>As NASA races to launch humans back to the moon in five years - a program called Artemis, named after Apollo's sister - astronaut and aerospace engineer <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/jeanette-j-epps" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jeanette Epps</a> sees hope springing eternal.Back in January 2018, NASA inexplicably <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ap-nasa-bumps-astronaut-off-june-spaceflight-in-rare-move-2018-1">bumped Epps off the main crew</a> of a six-month mission to the International Space Station. Had Epps flown, she would have been the first African-American person to live and work aboard (though not visit) the floating laboratory. NASA has yet to explain its decision, apparently including to Epps herself."I don't know where the decision came from and how it was made, in detail, or at what level," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-jeanette-epps-nasa-astronaut-taken-off-iss-mission-2018-6">Epps said</a> during a festival that June, later <a href="https://spacenews.com/nasa-astronaut-still-baffled-by-removal-from-iss-mission/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">adding</a> it was not medically related. "There were Russians, several of them, who defended me in the sense that it's not safe to really remove someone from a crew that has trained together for years."Then in August, the space agency announced its picks for the first Commercial Crew members: astronauts who'd get the glory of testing and flying SpaceX and Boeing's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-suni-williams-on-spacex-boeing-spaceships-2018-6">new private spaceships</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-suni-williams-on-spacex-boeing-spacesuits-2018-6">spacesuits</a>. Epps was not among <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-announcement-astronaut-crew-spacex-boeing-selection-2018-8">those selected</a>.Any reasonable person might have called it quits, but in true astronaut form, Epps did not. If you ask her about any of this today, her answer is short, reflective, and resolute."Sometimes things don't go the way that you planned. But I'm still in the astronaut corps," she recently told <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BusinessInsiderToday/">"Business Insider Today,"</a> a top daily news show on Facebook.Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-missions-why-astronauts-have-not-returned-2018-7">Astronauts explain why nobody has visited the moon in more than 45 years - and the reasons are depressing</a>NASA is looking to return people to the moon in 2024 with Artemis, starting with a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-moon-landing-mission-budget-increase-request-2019-5">$1.6 billion "down payment"</a> to begin building lunar landers in 2020. Epps was, unsurprisingly, very supportive of the program: We spoke to her during an agency-led media tour on the eve of the Apollo 11 mission's 50th anniversary.Still, a good amount of her energy seemed placed in the fact that she's one of <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies/active" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only 13 women</a> eligible to make a history-making trip."I think it is very beautiful that, 50 years after Apollo, the Artemis program will carry the next man and the first woman to the moon," NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine told reporters in May. "I have a daughter who is 11 years old, and I want her to be able to see herself in the same role as the next women that go to the moon."There's a decent chance that person could be Epps.<h2>Epps said it would be 'mind-blowing' to be the first woman on the moon</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Associated PressAn illustration of a proposed lunar lander for the Artemis program on the surface of the moon.</div></div></div>Epps thinks there are many clear and logical reasons to go to the moon, not the least of which is to pick up where NASA's Apollo program of the 1960s and 1970s left off.Only 12 people landed during the historic effort, at six different sites, and typically only for a day or two. The moon, meanwhile, has a surface area nearly four times as large as the US."A geologist once said to me, 'We went to the moon six times. If you had come to New York state six times, would you have thought that you investigated the whole world?'" Epps said. "We barely did anything there."From a scientific standpoint, Epps says the moon is still hiding countless secrets about how Earth and the rest of solar system formed, and what fate our planet might face in the future.She also noted the moon looks to be an increasingly valuable trove of resources, including frozen water. That ice could be melted, split into hydrogen and oxygen, and stored as rocket fuel."It can be a waypoint to getting to Mars," Epps said. "We can stop there and we refuel and go on to Mars."Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moon-ice-deposits-crater-map-lunuar-base-2018-8">The moon has billions of tons of ice on its surface - and it could be the 'first step in building a space economy'</a>Epps also says people themselves would be a priceless lunar resource if the world is truly interested in pursuing farther-flung space missions."There's a lot we need to learn about our human bodies," she said. "All of that information we learn, we're going to take it back to Mars. So it's for the future."When asked what Epps would say if she was picked to be the first woman on the moon, she was at a loss for words."It's mind-blowing to think about being the first [woman] to step on this object that you see in the night sky," she said. "I would hope that my mission would inspire the next generation of women, of all engineers and all scientists to kind of propel us forward, even beyond Mars."<h2>But Artemis may not get the funding it needs for a 2024 landing</h2><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1122824422031646720">Elon Musk/SpaceX via Twitter</a>An illustration of SpaceX's Starship vehicle on the surface of the moon, with Earth in the distance.</div></div></div>NASA still doesn't know if it will secure enough money to pull off a crewed landing in five years - the first since Apollo 17 left the lunar surface in December 1972.Bridenstine <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-bezos-blue-origin-moon-lunar-lander-2019-5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told CNN</a> in June the program may cost the agency an additional $4 billion to $6 billion a year, on top of it's existing budget of about $22 billion, for a five-year program cost of up to $30 billion.However, the agency has yet to release official details. Meanwhile, a key Democrat who leads the House committee that helps decide NASA's budget has also <a href="https://spacenews.com/key-house-appropriator-still-skeptical-of-nasas-lunar-plans/">expressed skepticism</a> about rushing to the moon in 2024. (The original plan called for a crewed landing in 2028, but the Trump administration moved the date up four years in early 2019.) Bridenstine has also alienated a senator important to funding the program, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/nasa-chief-alienates-senators-needed-to-fund-the-moon-program/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ars Technica reported</a>. The program may be poised for change if the funding does not come through. In July, Pence <a href="https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/cbs-radio-news/the-takeout/e/62738807" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Major Garrett on the podcast "The Takeout"</a> that "if our traditional partners can't do the job, we're going to look to the private space industry to give us the rockets and the technology to get there."Those comments came days after Elon Musk, SpaceX's CEO and founder, said he could return people to the moon using his company's planned (though as yet unrealized) <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-mars-starship-spacex-starhopper-rocket-moon-2019-6">Starship launch system</a>. Though being designed for Mars missions, SpaceX may trial the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starship-nasa-saturn-v-sls-moon-rockets-comparison-2019-7">towering rocket ship</a> on the moon."This is going to sound pretty crazy, but I think we could land on the moon in less than two years. Certainly with an uncrewed vehicle I believe we could land on the moon in two years," Musk <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/extended-transcript-spacex-ceo-elon-musk-on-putting-boots-on-the-moon-and-mars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told "CBS Sunday Morning"</a> during a taped interview, the transcript of which was released in July. "So then maybe within a year or two of that we could be sending crew."Epps said she'd take a ride on Starship if that's the system available for lunar missions."I would. I really do admire the work that SpaceX is doing. I admire the go-get-'em kind of attitude, and 'we're gonna be successful, and we're going to do it safely,'" Epps said. "We do things slowly in the government because we want to be super safe. And Elon Musk, he's doing things safely, but he's a lot faster.""I think he's going to have something pretty interesting in the next couple of years," she added. "But we'll wait and see if he gets back to the moon before we do." <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-explains-space-training-2018-10">What it takes to become an astronaut</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

NASA is racing to land the first woman on the moon in 2024. Here's what one of the 13 active female astronauts thinks of that idea.

<ul class="summary-list"><li><keyword id="6360701" type="DEFINITION" weightage="60" keywordseo="spacex">SpaceX</keyword>’s next <keyword id="6360409" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Nasa">NASA</keyword> astronaut mission is scheduled to launch on Halloween.</li><li>After that, the company will have at least one spacecraft in orbit continuously for the following 14 months.</li></ul>SpaceX is preparing to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-spacex-crew-1-mission-launch-late-october-2020-8">launch four NASA astronauts</a> on its <keyword id="3150656" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="crew-dragon">Crew Dragon</keyword> spaceship this Halloween — the first of six regular crewed missions the space agency has contracted from the rocket company founded by Elon Musk. (The one that concluded in August was considered a demonstration.)That's on top of the cargo resupply missions that SpaceX will regularly launch to the <keyword id="6382020" type="LOCATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="international-space-station">International Space Station</keyword> for NASA. The company has been sending a spaceship designed to carry supplies, called Cargo Dragon, to the orbiting laboratory since 2012. That vehicle has made more than 20 trips to the station and back.Combined, the two types of Dragon spacecraft are scheduled to launch into space seven times over the next 14 months, leading to an unprecedented situation for SpaceX.<div type="image" title="Spacex crew dragon launch" height="900" width="1440" msid="78553877" hostid="261"></div>"Every time there's a Dragon launch, there'll be two Dragons in space," Benji Reed, director of crew mission management at SpaceX, said at a press conference earlier this month. That's because each of the crewed SpaceX missions should overlap for a little while. The company's next astronaut mission, called Crew 1, launches at the end of the month, then the next one, Crew-2, is scheduled to launch in late March 2021. But the <keyword id="9717263" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="crew-1">Crew-1</keyword> astronauts don't plan to leave the space station until April. The same thing should happen with the following mission, Crew-3: It's expected to launch in September 2021, so should tag up with Crew-2 in orbit.The Crew-1 crew includes NASA astronauts Shannon Walker, Mike Hopkins, and Victor Glover, as well as <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-starship-dearmoon-crew-japanese-astronaut-soichi-noguchi-yusaku-maezawa-2020-9">Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi</a>. Hopkins is to be the mission commander, Glover the pilot, and Walker and Noguchi mission specialists.<div type="image" title="soichi noguchi victor glover shannon walker nasa jaxa astronauts spacex spacesuits portrait crew 1 dragon spaceship mission KSC 20200924 PH SPX01_0009_orig" height="2000" width="3000" msid="78553879" hostid="261"></div><h2>NASA's 'next era in <keyword id="1064783" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="human-spaceflight">human spaceflight</keyword>'</h2>Before SpaceX launched NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the space station in May on its Crew Dragon, NASA hadn't been able to fly its own astronauts to space since 2011, when it <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-rocket-launch-nasa-astronauts-demo2-commercial-crew-mission-history-2020-5">ended its space-shuttle program.</a>The partnership with SpaceX was the product of the space agency's Commercial Crew Program, which put private firms in competition for billions of dollars' worth of government contracts. SpaceX and <keyword id="6357957" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="boeing">Boeing</keyword> came out on top. Once the program is complete, NASA will have doled out more than $8 billion in awards and contracts over about a decade.Boeing is <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-joins-first-operational-boeing-crew-mission-to-space/">expected to launch</a> its first crewed CST-100 Starliner spaceship in December 2021. The Starliner-1 crew consists of commander Sunita Williams, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-astronaut-jeanette-epps-boeing-starliner-first-black-iss-crewmember-2020-8">mission specialist Jeanette Epp</a>s, and pilot Josh A. Cassada – all NASA astronauts. The fourth member has not yet been announced. But before Boeing launches humans into space, it has to retry an uncrewed demonstration mission on Starliner, because the attempt in December failed: Starliner entered orbit successfully, but <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/why-boeing-cst-100-starliner-spaceship-mission-failed-docking-iss-2019-12">failed to rendezvous</a> with the space station <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/nasa-investigating-potentially-catastrophic-boeing-spaceship-error-2020-2">due to potentially "catastrophic" software errors</a> that NASA then investigated. The vehicle also saw problems on its way back to Earth.Until Starliner is ready for spaceflight, Crew Dragon remains the only ship the US has to carry people to and from the space station — hence the crew changeovers will, for the foreseeable future, all be on SpaceX missions. <div type="image" title="spacex crew dragon spaceship docking international space station iss may 31 2020" height="1423" width="2156" msid="78553881" hostid="261"></div>NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has said he envisions "the next era in human spaceflight" to be one in which NASA can be one of many customers in a "robust commercial marketplace."In addition to Commercial Crew, NASA is forming other partnerships with private industry to bring in revenue. In September, <a href="https://www.space.com/estee-lauder-skincare-filming-on-space-station.html">the agency announced</a> a $128,000 deal with Estée Lauder to carry 10 bottles of the cosmetics company's Advanced Night Repair serum to the space station, where crew members will shoot videos and images. <div type="image" title="tom cruise" height="2608" width="3759" msid="78553885" hostid="261"></div>In October 2021, Tom Cruise and "Mission Impossible: Edge of Tomorrow" director Doug Liman are slated to <a href="https://deadline.com/2020/05/tom-cruise-movie-shot-in-outer-space-elon-musk-spacex-unprecedented-in-hollywood-1202925849/">travel to the ISS</a> on a SpaceX tourist mission, where they'll shoot the first major blockbuster in space. NASA is also in talks with US production company Space Hero, Inc. to produce <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-first-space-reality-show-send-1-lucky-winner-iss-2020-9">the first reality TV series filmed in space</a>.

You Searched For "jeanette epps" and got 8 results

NASA just selected astronaut Jeanette Epps for a historic space mission by Boeing — 2 years after the agency abruptly bumped her from a first flight

Dave Mosher

Jeanette Epps would have been the first black astronaut to live on the Space Station, but NASA bumped her, and she says they never told her why

Matthew Michaels

Elon Musk's SpaceX brings ISS astronauts back to Earth after Boeing Starliner problems delayed their return

Pete Syme

Boeing Starliner with Sunita Williams onboard could wait months in space before return as NASA mulls extending mission duration

ANI

A NASA astronaut is set to become the first Black woman to live and work at the International Space Station

Taiyler Simone Mitchell

NASA is racing to land the first woman on the moon in 2024. Here's what one of the 13 active female astronauts thinks of that idea.

Dave Mosher

Double Dragon: SpaceX plans to have at least 1 spaceship – and sometimes 2 – in space for the next 14 months without a break

Susie Neilson

Space 2021: All the Mars landings, eclipses, astronaut flights, rocket launches, and other big missions to look for this year

Morgan McFall-Johnsen,Susie N…

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