Tellus Welcomes Astronaut

If you ever wanted to know what is was like to go to space, you could ask Stephanie Wilson. The NASA astronaut who has logged more than 42 days in space is coming to Cartersville's on Friday at 7 p.m.to talk about her career.

Selected by NASA in 1996, Wilson graduated Harvard University with a bachelor's degree in Engineering Science in 1988. She went on to an astronautics job and the University of Texas, where she earned in 1992 a master of science degree in Aerospace Engineering.

Following a four-year stint at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA, Wilson reported to Johnson Space Center in August 1996.

With two years of training and evaluation, Wilson is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. She performed technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch and served in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch, working in Mission Control as a prime communicator with on-orbit crews, prior to space flight.

Wilson is now a veteran of three space flights, according to NASA:

• STS-121 (July 4-17, 2006) "was a return-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to the International Space Station. During the 13-day flight the crew of Space Shuttle Discovery tested new equipment and procedures that increase the safety of space shuttles, repaired a rail car on the International Space Station and produced never-before-seen, high-resolution images of the Shuttle during and after its July 4 launch. Wilson supported robotic arm operations for vehicle inspection, multi-purpose logistics module installation and EVAs and was responsible for the transfer of more than 15,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the ISS. The crew also performed maintenance on the space station and delivered a new Expedition 13 crew member to the station. The mission was accomplished in 12 days, 18 hours, 37 minutes, 54 seconds."

• STS-120 Discovery (Oct. 23-Nov. 7, 2007) "launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Designated as flight 10A in the ISS assembly sequence, it was also a crew rotation flight, delivering an Expedition 16 crew member and returning with an Expedition-15 crew member. During the STS-120 mission, the Node 2 module named 'Harmony' was delivered to the International Space Station. This element opened up the capability for future international laboratories to be added to the station. In addition, the P6 Solar Array was re-located from the Z1 Truss to the end of the port side of the Integrated Truss Structure. During the re-deploy of the array, the array panels snagged and were damaged. An unplanned spacewalk was successfully performed to repair the array. Wilson was responsible for robotic arm operations for vehicle inspection and EVA support, and she served as the flight engineer assisting the commander and pilot with space shuttle systems. The mission was accomplished in 238 orbits, traveling 6.2 million miles in 15 days, 2 hours, 23 minutes."

• STS-131 Discovery (April 5-20, 2010) was "a resupply mission to the International Space Station and launched at night from the Kennedy Space Center. On arrival at the station, Discovery’s crew dropped off more than 27,000 pounds of hardware, supplies, experiments and equipment including a tank full of ammonia coolant that required three spacewalks and robotics to install, new crew sleeping quarters, and experiment racks. During the mission Wilson was primarily responsible for robotics and EVA support using the Space Station Robotic Arm. On the return journey the MPLM (Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module) inside Discovery’s payload bay was packed with over 6,000 pounds of hardware, science results and used supplies. The STS-131 mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes, 10 seconds, and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 orbits."

The is free to members and included with cost of regular for visitors. Call 770-606-5700, extension 431 to reserve seats.