Who Is Jessica Watkins? SpaceX Crew-4 Astronaut Who Is First Black Woman To Be On Long-Term NASA Mission

Jessica Watkins will accompany NASA astronauts Knell Lindgren and Robert Hines, and Samantha Cristoforetti of European Space Agency for the Crew-4 mission

NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins: File Image

New Delhi: NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins has been assigned to serve as a mission specialist for NASA's upcoming SpaceX Crew-4 mission, which is the fourth crew rotation flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station, the US space agency announced Tuesday. Watkins is set to become the first Black woman to join NASA's Commerical Crew Program for a long a duration mission. 

 

Mae Jemison, a former NASA astronaut, became the first Black woman to travel to space when she served as a mission specialist for the STS-47 mission in 1992, aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission lasted nearly eight days, from September 12 to 20, 1992.

 

Watkins was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2017. She will accompany NASA astronauts Knell Lindgren and Robert Hines, and European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti for the Crew-4 mission, NASA said in a statement. 

 

Who Is Jessica Watkins?

 

Jessica Watkins was born in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on May 14, 1988. She was selected by NASA to join the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class. Having completed the initial astronaut candidate training, she is now eligible for a mission assignment, NASA said in the statement. 

 

Watkins earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Geological and Environmental Sciences from Stanford University. She became a Doctorate in Geology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). 

 

Her graduation research was focused on the emplacement mechanisms of large landslides on Mars and Earth. Emplacement in geology refers to the attainment of positions of igneous rocks. 

 

Watkins was an intern at NASA's Ames Research Center, has worked at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was a science team collaborator for the Curiosity Rover.

 

The Crew-4 mission which will be Watkins' first trip to space, is scheduled to launch in April 2022 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, Florida. Crew-4 astronauts will stay aboard the space station for six months, and will perform microgravity experiments during their stay.