NASA astronaut to be first Houstonian to helm the International Space Station
NASA astronaut Shannon Walker is the first Houston native to command the International Space Station.
Walker assumed command Thursday and will hold this position for almost two weeks as astronauts and cosmonauts swap places some 250 miles above Earth. Walker has been on the station since mid-November and is set to begin her journey home April 28.
“It is truly an honor and a privilege to accept command of the International Space Station,” Walker said during a change of command ceremony, “and the responsibility for this amazing orbiting laboratory that we have up here. And, as
you said, to carry on the traditions of international cooperation in space.”
Walker was selected as NASA’s first Houston-born astronaut in 2004. Her K-12 studies and three science degrees were all completed in Houston.
She attended Westbury High School (formerly Westbury Senior High), Meyerland Performing and Visual Arts Middle School (formerly Johnston Junior High and later Johnston Middle School), and Parker Elementary — all in Houston Independent School District.
Students from Westbury High School watched the live video of Walker’s change-of-command ceremony.
“We are proud to know that Dr. Walker’s HISD education inspired her to become involved in the space program and then become an astronaut,” HISD Interim Superintendent Grenita Lathan said in a news release. The command post “is an honor that has been years in the making and is well deserved.”
Walker earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Rice University in 1987, and she returned to Rice to earn a master’s and doctorate in space physics in 1992 and 1993, respectively.
Walker’s first spaceflight was in 2010, when she launched from Kazakhstan on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. Last year, she launched from the U.S. in a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Walker and her fellow crew members have worked on a variety of experiments, including tissue chips that mimic the structure and function of human organs. This could help researchers understand the role of microgravity on human health and diseases, and the findings could possibly be used to improve human health on Earth. The astronauts also grew radishes and tested a new system to remove heat from spacesuits, according to NASA.
The station’s seven-person crew grew to 10 people last week when NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Pyotr Dubrov arrived in a Soyuz capsule.
The space station’s previous commander, cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov, departs the station to return home Friday with Roscosmos’ Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and NASA’s Kate Rubins. They’ll fly in a Soyuz.
Then a SpaceX Crew Dragon will deliver NASA astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Megan McArthur, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko Hoshide and European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet to the station, bringing the crew to 11 people until Walker and her crew mates depart.
Walker will turn over the command to Hoshide before she leaves the station later this month with NASA’s Victor Glover and Mike Hopkins and Japan’s Soichi Noguchi.