Space Traveler: Glenbrook North Grad Partakes In Historic Flight

TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, NM — In the race to space, billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson and five crewmates from his Virgin Galactic space-tourism company reached a reported altitude of about 53 miles Sunday over the New Mexico desert. It was enough for the crew, which included a native of Northbrook, to experience three to four minutes of weightlessness and see the Earth's curvature, before safely returning to a runway.

Beth Moses, a 1987 graduate of Glenbrook North High School, was right there alongside Branson for the historic flight. She served as the chief astronaut instructor. Her teams design and deliver the passenger cabin of SpaceShipTwo and train astronauts for their spaceflight.

Moses was making her second spaceflight as she was the first woman to do it on a commercially launched vehicle when she was part of the VSS Unity VF-01 flight in 2019.

She is a graduate of Purdue University's School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, where she received bachelor's (1992) and master's degrees (1994) in aeronautical and astronautical engineering.

Prior to joining Virgin Galactic, Moses worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center where she served as the extravehicular activity system manager for the International Space Station from design through on-orbit construction, according to her Purdue University bio.

Moses was named a distinguished alumna by Glenbrook North earlier this month. She said her time at GBN helped shape her career path. While at the school, Moses discovered her passion for space and was a member of the science club.

While still in high school, Moses began participating in the NASA Student Space Station Involvement Program where she would submit shoebox-sized experiments to be flown in a space shuttle, according to GBN. Her project proposed a way to image fluid dynamics in the extremely weakened gravity of a spacecraft.

RELATED: Billionaire Richard Branson Reaches Space In His Own Ship

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