Astronaut Janet Voss Passes.... Heroine to the End
http://space.brevardtimes.com/2012/02/astronaut-janice-voss-dies.html
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Astronaut Janet Voss passed away last night from Cancer. She was one of the quiet heroes and heroines of our great venture into the unknown. She was responsible for the payloads and the experiments which are ongoing even today.
"By improving the way scientists are able to analyze their data, and establishing the experimental methods and hardware necessary to perform these unique experiments, Janice and her crew ensured that our space station would be the site of discoveries that we haven't even imagined."
- Peggy Watson, Chief of the Astronaut Office
"Voss began her career with NASA in 1973 while a student at Purdue University. She returned to NASA in 1977 to work as an instructor, teaching entry guidance and navigation to space shuttle crews. After completing her doctorate in 1987, she worked within the aerospace industry until she was selected as an astronaut in 1990.
Voss’ first spaceflight mission was STS-57 in 1993, the first flight of the Spacehab module. She next flew on STS-63 in 1995, a mission to the Mir space station, and third flight of Spacehab. She also flew as a payload commander on STS-83 in 1997 with the Microgravity Science Laboratory, but the mission was cut short due to problems with one of the orbiter’s three fuel power generation units. Voss, the crew and MSL flew again as the STS-94 MSL-1 Spacelab mission, focused on materials and combustion science research in microgravity.
Her last mission was STS-99 in 2000, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which mapped more than 47 million square miles of the Earth's land surface at unprecedented resolution levels. In total, Voss spent more than 49 days in space." - http://space.brevardtimes.com/2012/02/astronaut-janice-voss-dies.html
A sad day for America, NASA, and the Voss family to whom I extend my condolences for their deep loss.
Photocredit: NASA
