Joan Higginbotham

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Joan E. Higginbotham
Joan Higginbotham
NASA Astronaut
Nationality American
Status Retired
Born August 3, 1964 (1964-08-03) (age 43)
Chicago, Illinois
Other occupation Engineer
Space time 12d 20h 53 m
Selection 1996 NASA Group
Missions STS-116
Mission
insignia

Joan Elizabeth Higginbotham is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. She flew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery mission STS-116 as a mission specialist.[1]

[edit] Early life

Higginbotham was born in Chicago, Illinois, and attended Whitney Young Magnet High School, graduating in 1982.[1] She received a Bachelor of Science degree from the Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1987, and a Masters of Management Science (1992) and Masters in Space Systems (1996) both from the Florida Institute of Technology.[1]

Higginbotham is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority and The Links, Incorporated.[1]

[edit] NASA career

Higginbotham started her career at the Kennedy Space Center in 1987, and worked mainly as a payload specialist in the Space Shuttle program.[1][2] She was accepted into the astronaut program in 1996, and flew on STS-116, which launched on December 9, 2006 aboard Discovery.[1] Higginbotham took a scarf for the Houston Dynamo on board with her during her mission.[3]

Joan Higginbotham was originally assigned to the crew of STS-126 targeted for launch in September, 2008.[4][5] On November 21, 2007, NASA announced a change in the crew manifest, due to Higginbotham's decision to leave NASA to take a job in the private sector.[6] Donald Pettit replaced Higginbotham for STS-126.[7]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f NASA (2006). NASA biography of Joan Higginbotham. NASA. Retrieved on November 3, 2007.
  2. ^ NASA (2006). STS-116 NASA Preflight Interview: Mission Specialist Joan Higginbotham. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved on November 3, 2007.
  3. ^ Medio Tiempo (2006). La astronauta Higginbotham llevó al espacio una bufanda del Houston Dynamo (Spanish). Medio Tiempo. Retrieved on November 3, 2007.
  4. ^ Tood Halvorson (October 17 2007). From KSC worker to astronaut. Florida Today. Retrieved on November 14, 2007.
  5. ^ NASA (2007). NASA Assigns Crew for Space Station Assembly Mission (English). NASA. Retrieved on October 2, 2007.
  6. ^ NASA (2007). NASA Amends Crew Assignment for STS-126 Mission. NASA. Retrieved on November 22, 2007.
  7. ^ Stephen Withers (2007). Crew assignments for space shuttle mission STS-126 have been revised following the resignation of an experienced astronaut.. iTWire. Retrieved on November 22, 2007.
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