Naval Academy Graduate Launched Into Space For 6-Month NASA Mission

ANNAPOLIS, MD — A U.S. Naval Academy alumna launched into space on Nov. 10. The 2010 graduate, Lt. Cmdr. Kayla Barron, will complete a six-month NASA mission aboard the International Space Station.

Before becoming an astronaut, Barron was a submarine warfare officer who was deployed three times while serving on the USS Maine. Barron first considered NASA when she met an astronaut who helped build the space station.

"I was just hit with this realization that the space station is a submarine in space," Barron said in an interview with the Navy Office of Community Outreach. "It's exactly the same set of engineering challenges, exactly the same kind of team you need to be. And that was the first time I was able to imagine myself doing something that crazy like going to space."

Barron was born in Pocatello, Idaho and grew up in Richland, Washington. She eventually earned her bachelor’s degree in systems engineering from the Naval Academy. In 2011, Barron finished a master’s in nuclear engineering at the University of Cambridge in England.

The former Gates Cambridge Scholar was serving as the flag aide to the Naval Academy superintendent when NASA selected her as an astronaut candidate in 2017. This will be Barron's first time in space.

"Never close a door on yourself," Barron added. "It's easy to talk yourself out of chasing your dreams because if you dream big, those dreams are intimidating. I know they were for me."

Barron and the rest of Crew-3 launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Florida. The team then flew 22 hours to the station aboard the Crew Dragon Endurance spacecraft propelled by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.

The group also includes fellow Americans Air Force Col. Raja Chari and Dr. Tom Marshburn as well as German engineer Matthias Maurer. While at the station, the quartet will conduct scientific research in materials science, health technologies and plant science to prepare humans for deeper space exploration.

"You can't become an astronaut if you don't apply," Barron concluded. "You can't do any of these things if you don't put yourself out there."

More information on the mission is posted here. Barron's full interview is viewable below.

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