Astronaut Biography: Stephanie D. Wilson

NAME:Stephanie D. Wilson
NASA Astronaut

PERSONALDATA: Born in1966 in Boston Massachusetts. Enjoys snow skiing, music, stamp collecting, andtraveling.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Taconic High School, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1984; received a bachelor of science degree inengineering science from Harvard University in 1988, and a master of science degree in aerospaceengineering from the University of Texas, in 1992.

ORGANIZATIONS: American Institute of Aeronauticsand Astronautics.

EXPERIENCE: After graduating from Harvard in1988, Wilson worked for 2 years for the formerMartin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado. As a Loads and Dynamics engineerfor Titan IV, Wilson was responsible for performingcoupled loads analyses for the launch vehicle and payloads during flightevents. Wilson left Martin Marietta in 1990 toattend graduate school at the University of Texas. Her research focused on thecontrol and modeling of large, flexible space structures. Following thecompletion of her graduate work, she began working for the Jet PropulsionLaboratory in Pasadena, California, in 1992. As a member of the Attitude and ArticulationControl Subsystem for the Galileo spacecraft, Wilson was responsible for assessing attitude controllerperformance, science platform pointing accuracy, antenna pointing accuracy andspin rate accuracy. She worked in the areas of sequence development and testingas well. While at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Wilson also supported the Interferometery Technology Program as amember of the Integrated Modeling Team, which was responsible for finiteelement modeling, controller design, and software development.

NASAEXPERIENCE:Selected by NASA in April 1996, Wilson reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completedtwo years of training and evaluation, she is qualified for flight assignment asa mission specialist. She was initially assigned technical duties in theAstronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch to work with Space Stationpayload displays and procedures. She then served in the Astronaut Office CAPCOMBranch, working in Mission Control as a prime communicator with on-orbit crews.Following her work in Mission Control, Wilson was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office ShuttleOperations Branch involving the Space Shuttle Main Engines, External Tank andSolid Rocket Boosters. Wilson completed her first space flight onSTS-121 in 2006 and has logged almost 13-days in space. She is assigned to theSTS-120 mission that will deliver the Node 2 connecting module to theInternational Space Station.

SPACEFLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-121 (July 4-17, 2006), was areturn-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to the International SpaceStation. During the 13-day flight the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery testednew equipment and procedures that increase the safety of space shuttles,repaired a rail car on the International Space Station and producednever-before-seen, high-resolution images of the Shuttle during and after itsJuly 4th launch. Wilson supported robotic arm operationsfor vehicle inspection, multi-purpose logistics module installation and EVAsand was responsible for the transfer of more than 28,000 pounds of supplies andequipment to the ISS. The crew also performed maintenance on the space stationand delivered a new Expedition 13 crew member to the station. The mission wasaccomplished in 306 hours, 37 minutes and 54 seconds.

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