STEPHANIE D. WILSON
NASA ASTRONAUT
PERSONAL DATA: Born in 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts. Enjoys snow skiing, music, stamp collecting and traveling.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Taconic High School, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, in 1984; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Science from Harvard University in 1988 and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in 1992.
ORGANIZATIONS: Member of The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, The Association of Space Explorers and The Harvard University Board of Overseers.
SPECIAL HONORS: NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2009, 2011); NASA Space Flight Medal (2006, 2007, 2010); Honorary Doctorate of Science from Williams College (2011); Harvard College Women’s Professional Achievement Award (2008); Harvard Foundation Scientist of the Year Award (2008); Young Outstanding Texas Exes Award (2005) and several group achievement and performance awards (1992 to 2008).
EXPERIENCE: After graduating from Harvard in 1988, Wilson worked for two years for the former Martin Marietta Astronautics Group in Denver, Colorado. As a Loads and Dynamics Engineer for Titan IV, Wilson was responsible for performing coupled loads analyses for the launch vehicle and payloads during flight events. Wilson left Martin Marietta in 1990 to attend graduate school at the University of Texas at Austin. Her research, sponsored by NASA Langley Research Center through a NASA Graduate Student Researchers Fellowship, focused on the control and modeling of large, flexible space structures, ultimately culminating in a thesis comparing structural dynamics methodologies and controller designs. Following the completion of her graduate work, she began working for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, in 1992. As a member of the Attitude and Articulation Control Subsystem for the Galileo spacecraft, Wilson was responsible for assessing attitude controller performance, science platform pointing accuracy, antenna pointing accuracy and spin rate accuracy. She worked in the areas of sequence development and testing as well. While at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Wilson also supported the Interferometery Technology Program as a member of the Integrated Modeling team, which was responsible for finite element modeling, controller design and software development.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in April 1996, Wilson reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. She completed two years of training and evaluation and became qualified for flight assignment as a Mission Specialist. Wilson was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Space Station Operations Branch to develop requirements for space station payload displays and procedures and to evaluate their user interfaces. She then served as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch, working in Mission Control as a prime communicator with several space shuttle and space station crews.
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