Susan Kilrain

Kilrain was born on October 24, 1961, in Augusta, Georgia. She is the only sister among nine siblings. During her childhood she expressed her interest in becoming an astronaut and her family supported her dream. She started flying in high school where she had a month off during her senior year and completed training to become a private pilot. Kilrain graduated from the Walnut Hill School, Natick, Massachusetts, in 1979. In 1982, she obtained a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. She received her master of science degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1985. During her time in graduate school she worked as a Wind Tunnel Project Officer for Lockheed Corporation.I realized that I was a woman in a man's world, so I was going to be an outsider. My whole philosophy was not to make waves. My goal was to be an astronaut. I wanted to fit in without accepting unacceptable behavior.Susan served as the Legislative Specialist for Shuttle for the Office of Legislative Affairs at NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C. She retired from the Astronaut Office in December 2002 and from the US Navy later in 2005. Personal life She is married to Vice Admiral Colin J. Kilrain. The couple have four children and reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia. She loves photography and traveling, as well as martial arts, triathlon and playing the piano. With the space historian Francis French, Kilrain co-authored a children's book named An Unlikely Astronaut. == Military career ==

Kilrain was commissioned into the US Navy in 1985. In 1987, she was designated a Naval Aviator. She was selected to be a flight instructor in the TA-4J Skyhawk. Later she flew EA-6A Electric Intruders for Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 (VAQ-33) in Key West, Florida. Upon completing the US Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, she reported to Fighter Squadron 101 (VF-101) in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for F-14 Tomcat training. Throughout her career, has logged over 3,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. == NASA career ==

In 1995, she was selected by NASA as part of the 15th Astronaut Training Group. The group was selected to provide pilots, engineers, and astronauts for space shuttle flights. After a year of training, she worked on technical issues for the Vehicle Systems and Operations Branch of the Astronaut Office. She also served as spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in mission control during launch and entry for numerous missions. In 1997, she flew to space twice as a shuttle pilot on the missions STS-83 (April 4 to 8, 1997) and STS-94 (July 1 to 17, 1997). The STS-83 mission delivered to space a Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1), a collection of 33 microgravity experiments housed inside the Spacelab. The goal of this mission was to test hardware, facilities, and procedures being developed in views of the long term research program on the future International Space Station. The mission, which was supposed to last 16 days was cut short because of problems with one of the Shuttle's three fuel cell power generation units. Mission duration was 95 hours and 12 minutes, traveling 1.5 million miles in 63 orbits of the Earth. In July 1997 the STS-83 mission was renamed as STS-94 and represented a re-flight of the MSL-1 Spacelab mission. This mission focused on materials and combustion science research in microgravity. Mission duration was 376 hours and 45 minutes, traveling 6.3 million miles in 251 orbits of the Earth.Looking down at Earth from space the first time … it's like every dream come true. Even though you’ve seen pictures of Earth from space, it's not the same as being in space and looking at Earth. It was very rewarding. == Awards and honors ==

Throughout her career she has been recognized and awarded in multiple occasions. == References ==