NASA astronaut Jessica U. Meir has too many accolades to mention. A Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Brown University, as well as a Master of Science in Space Studies from the International Space University, and a Doctorate in Marine Biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography (UCSD), her achievements include being par of the first all-female spacewalk in history.
Together with Christina Koch, the two spacewalked for seven hours and 17 minutes in total. Currently working onboard the International Space Station on her first spaceflight as part of Expedition 61 and 62, she has also participated in research flights on NASA’s reduced gravity aircraft and served as an aquanaut in an underwater habitat for NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO).
“For me, coming up here, it just was the most amazing experience of my life, coming to the International Space Station, something that I had dreamed about since I was a kid,” she remarked in an interview with wbur. “And let me tell you, I thought it would be amazing. I knew it would be amazing. It is even far, far, far more incredible and impressive than I ever imagined. And that’s saying a lot.”
Luckily for us, we get to admire her magnificent work, as well as her travels into space, from the comfort of our home – whilst scrolling through her official Instagram page. With more than 150k followers, you’d want to join in. It’s not every day that you get to follow an astronaut around.
