Voss Janice Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Female, Divorced. Born in South Bend, Indiana, USA. PhD

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 13 - 1990. Active Entered space service: 17 January 1990. Number of Flights: 5.00. Total Time: 49.16 days.

NAME: Janice Voss (Ph.D.)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born October 8, 1956, in South Bend, Indiana, but considers Rockford, Illinois, to be her hometown. She enjoys reading science fiction, dancing, volleyball, flying. Her parents, Dr. & Mrs. James R. Voss, reside in Dupont, Indiana.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Minnechaug Regional High School, Wilbraham, Massachusetts, in 1972; received a bachelor of science degree in engineering science from Purdue University in 1975, a master of science degree in electrical engineering and a doctorate in aeronautics/astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 and 1987, respectively. From 1973 to 1975 she took correspondence courses at the University of Oklahoma. She also did some graduate work in space physics at Rice University in 1977 and 1978.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).

SPECIAL HONORS:

NASA Space Flight Medals (1993, 1995); Zonta Amelia Earhart Fellowship (1982); Howard Hughes Fellowship (1981); National Science Foundation Fellowship (1976).

EXPERIENCE:

Dr. Voss was a co-op at the NASA Johnson Space Center from 1973 to 1975. During that time she did computer simulations in the Engineering and Development Directorate. In 1977 she returned to the Johnson Space Center and, for a year, worked as a crew trainer, teaching entry guidance and navigation. She completed her doctorate in 1987 and accepted a job with Orbital Sciences Corporation. Her responsibilities there included mission integration and flight operations support for an upper stage called the Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS). TOS launched the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) from the Space Shuttle in September 1993, and the Mars Observer from a Titan in the Fall of 1992.

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Voss became an astronaut in July 1991. She is qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Her technical assignments have included working Spacelab/Spacehab issues for the Astronaut Office.

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Voss Janice Spaceflight Log

• 21 June 1993 Flight: STS-57. Flight Up: STS-57. Flight Back: STS-57. Flight Time: 9.99 days.

• 3 February 1995 Flight: STS-63. Flight Up: STS-63. Flight Back: STS-63. Flight Time: 8.27 days.

• 4 April 1997 Flight: STS-83. Flight Up: STS-83. Flight Back: STS-83. Flight Time: 3.97 days.

• 1 July 1997 Flight: STS-94. Flight Up: STS-94. Flight Back: STS-94. Flight Time: 15.70 days.

• 11 February 2000 Flight: STS-99. Flight Up: STS-99. Flight Back: STS-99. Flight Time: 11.24 days.

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Voss Janice Chronology

17 January 1990 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 13 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Reported to the Johnson Space Center in late July 1990 to begin their year long training. Chosen from 1945 qualified applicants, then 106 finalists screened between September and November 1989.

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21 June 1993 - STS-57. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-57. Manned six crew. Carried Spacehab 1; retrieved Eureca-1 spacecraft. Payloads: Spacehab 01, retrieval of European Retriev-able Carrier (EURECA) Satellite, Superfluid Helium On-Orbit Transfer (SHOOT), Consortium for Materials Development in Space Complex Autonomous Payload (CONCAP)-IV, Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment (FARE), Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II, Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), GAS bridge assembly with 12 getaway special payloads.

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1 July 1993 - Landing of STS-57. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-57. STS-57 landed at 12:51 GMT.

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3 February 1995 - STS-63. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-63, Mir EO-17, Mir LD-4. Deployed ODERACS 2A-2E; deployed and retrieved Spartan 204. Discovery rendezvoused with Russia's space station, Mir, to a distance of 11 m and performed a fly-around, but did not dock with Mir. Payloads: SPACEHAB 03, Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN) 204, Cryo Systems Experiment (CSE)/GLO-2 Experi-ment Payload (CGP)/Orbital Debris Radar Calibration Spheres (ODERACS) 2, Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS), IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC)

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11 February 1995 - Landing of STS-63. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-63, Mir EO-17, Mir LD-4. STS-63 landed at 11:51 GMT.

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4 April 1997 - STS-83. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-83. The launch of STS-83, the first Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1) mission, was postponed for a day to replace some insulation around a water coolant line in Columbia's payload bay. Liftoff was further delayed 20 minutes due to anomalous oxygen readings in the orbiter's payload bay. STS-83 was cut short due to a problem with one of the three fuel cells that provide electricity and water to Columbia (flight rules required that all three must be operating). At 14:30 GMT on April 6 the crew were ordered to begin a Minimum Duration Flight (MDF). On April 8 the OMS engines ignited at 17:30 GMT for the deorbit burn, and Columbia landed on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 18:33 GMT.

With delays in International Space Station construction leaving ample room in the shuttle schedule, NASA made the unique decision to leave the equipment installed in Columbia and refly this mission with the same crew later in 1997 as STS-94.

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8 April 1997 - Landing of STS-83. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-83. STS-83 landed at 18:33 GMT.

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1 July 1997 - STS-94. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-94. STS-94 was the reflight, with the same equipment and crew, of the curtailed STS-83 mission. Cargo Bay Payloads:

• MSL-1: The Microgravity Science Laboratory included the first test of the International Space Station’s EXPRESS Rack. MSL-1 also contained numerous other experiment payloads to test materials and combustion processes in zero gravity.
• CRYOFD: The Cryogenic Flexible Diode (CRYOFD) heat pipe was a Hitchhiker payload.
• OARE: The Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment was a self-calibrating instrument that monitored extremely small accelerations and vibrations experienced during orbit of the Shuttle.

In-Cabin Payloads: SAREX, MSX

The mission this time went for its full two week duration and the crew completed the full list of experiments. The deorbit burn was on July 17, 1997 at 09:44 GMT and Columbia landed on KSC's Runway 33 at 10:46:34 GMT.

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17 July 1997 - Landing of STS-94. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-94. STS-94 landed at 10:46 GMT.

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11 February 2000 - STS-99. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-99. On an extremely successful mission the space shuttle Endeavour deployed the 61 metre long STRM mast. This was a side-looking radar that digitally mapped with unprecedented accuracy the entire land surface of the Earth between latitudes 60 deg N and 54 deg S. Sponsors of the flight included the US National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA), NASA, and the German and Italian space agencies. Some of the NIMA data would remain classified for exclusive use by the US Department of Defense.

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11 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #02. Flight: STS-99. Space shuttle astronauts deployed the longest rigid structure ever built in space today and continued work to check out the equipment they will use to produce unrivaled three-dimensional images of the Earth's surface.

Red Team leader Commander Kevin Kregel, and colleagues Janet Kavandi and Gerhard ...more...

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11 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #01. Flight: STS-99. With six astronauts on board, Endeavour sped to orbit under cloudless skies from the Kennedy Space Center today to begin the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, the first human space flight of the 21st century.

Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dom Gorie, and Mission Specialists Janice Voss, Janet ...more...

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12 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #03. Flight: STS-99. Endeavour astronauts began mapping operations on the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, which will provide maps of the Earth unprecedented in accuracy and uniformity. The first swath was begun as the orbiter crossed over southern Asia and continued until Endeavour flew over the continent's eastern coast and moved over the northern Pacific Ocean. The mapping will continue through the mission until the antenna mast is retracted before landing.

Because of the 24-hour-a-day activity aboard Endeavour, the six crewmembers are ...more...

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12 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #04. Flight: STS-99. By the time members of Endeavour's Red Team had reached lunchtime on this first full day in space for the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, the radar antennas in the payload bay and at the end of a 200-foot mast had mapped about 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) of the Earth's surface, or the equivalent of about half the area of the United States.

The Red Team - Kevin Kregel, Janet Kavandi and Gerhard Thiele - took over the mapping ...more...

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13 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #06. Flight: STS-99. The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission's mapping operation continues to run smoothly, with about 17.7 million square miles of the Earth's surface having been mapped by 7 p.m. Central time. Scientists also reported that 38 percent of landmasses had been mapped thus far in the flight. Despite a problem with a small nitrogen thruster on the end of the 200-foot-long mast, both the C-band and X-band radars continue to perform as expected, and the thruster problem has had no impact on mapping operations.

"We are starting to see the first 'quick look' results from the X-band and C-band ...more...

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14 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #07. Flight: STS-99. Endeavour crewmembers successfully completed their second "flycast maneuver" trim burn early Monday, as the spacecraft continued to gather data that will greatly improve our topographical knowledge of the Earth's surface. Scientists already have expressed delight with low-resolution "quick look" data, which revealed features not shown on today's best maps.

By early Monday morning, about 20 million square miles had been imaged. By the planned ...more...

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14 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #08. Flight: STS-99. "As excited as a kid on Christmas day" is how Shuttle Radar Topography Mission project engineer Ed Caro described his reaction to the progress of the radar-mapping mission thus far. Operations onboard Endeavour continued without interruption, even without the availability of a small nitrogen thruster on the end of the extended boom. By midday, about 24 million square miles had been mapped once, and 9 million square miles twice. That's more than half the planned coverage for the mission.

Mission scientists continue to express delight with the "quick-look" data seen so ...more...

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15 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #10. Flight: STS-99. New radar images of Brazil, South Africa and the South Island of New Zealand were unveiled this afternoon by elated scientists of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. "This snapshot of Earth will be used for decades to come," said deputy project scientist Dr. Tom Farr.

Mapping operations continued smoothly into the mission's fifth day, with both radar ...more...

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15 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #09. Flight: STS-99. Endeavour astronauts had completed mapping well over half the targeted Earth land surface by early Tuesday, and scientists continued to express delight at the quality of information they were seeing.

More than 20 percent of the targeted land had been mapped twice and the Shuttle ...more...

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16 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #11. Flight: STS-99. Optimism in orbit and in Mission Control that Endeavour will have enough propellant and power to complete its planned mapping of more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface continues to increase. Mission Control also told the astronauts that the EarthKAM aboard Endeavour has successfully transmitted its 1,000th image for middle school students.

Scientists reported that 67.2 percent of the target area - 32 million square miles ...more...

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16 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #12. Flight: STS-99. With growing confidence that fuel-saving measures onboard Endeavour will permit the radar mapping mission to run its full duration, flight controllers and crew members today marked the mission's mid-way point. "We're almost there," stated Milt Heflin, NASA's Deputy Chief Flight Director.

Science operations progressed flawlessly through the halfway point of the 11-day ...more...

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17 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #13. Flight: STS-99. Masses of data that will result in topographical maps far better than any now available continue to flow into high-rate recorders as Endeavour enters the second half of its Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. Efforts to conserve propellant and power continue to pay off, with officials gaining more confidence that the entire nine days, nine hours of mapping operations will be completed.

By early Thursday more that 77 percent or 36.4 million square miles of the target ...more...

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17 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #14. Flight: STS-99. Propellant conservation measures have paid off and Endeavour's crew was notified this morning that the mapping operations will continue for the full nine days as planned prior to launch. "That's great news," replied Pilot Dom Gorie. "They're getting some fantastic data on this mission."

As of noon today, 81 percent, or more than 39 million square miles of the target ...more...

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18 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #15. Flight: STS-99. With unprecedented detail of well over half of the world's terrain already safely stored aboard, Endeavour's crew continued mapping the Earth uninterrupted this morning, marching toward more than nine full days of radar observations thanks to successful fuel conservation measures.

Early today, Endeavour completed its sixth "Flycast Maneuver" trim burn, a gentle ...more...

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19 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #17. Flight: STS-99. The EarthKAM, a digital camera mounted at an overhead window on Endeavour's flight deck, continues its record setting pace. A little after 4 a.m. CST Saturday flight controllers reported it had sent down more than 2,018 images, the combined total of the four previous flights on which it had flown.

The camera takes pictures for middle school students. Through the Internet, their ...more...

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20 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #19. Flight: STS-99. Endeavour's astronauts are looking forward to using one more small bonus in mapping operations time. They were given an additional 10 minutes, bringing the total to nine days, 18 hours and 10 minutes. The additional minutes have been added to allow one more mapping pass across Australia, rather than turning off the radar just as the spacecraft approaches the nation's coastline.

So far, the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission has imaged 44.7 million square miles, ...more...

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21 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #22. Flight: STS-99. With mapping operations complete and Endeavour's radar mapping hardware stowed, astronauts today conducted checks of various flight control surfaces and thruster jets in preparation for tomorrow's return to Earth.

After wrapping up mapping operations at 5:54 a.m. Central time today with a final ...more...

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22 February 2000 - STS-99 Mission Status Report #24. Flight: STS-99. The six astronauts aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour glided to a smooth landing at the Kennedy Space Center at sunset today, wrapping up their 11-day radar mapping mission, the first human space flight of the 21st century.

With Commander Kevin Kregel at the controls, Endeavour touched down at 5:22 p.m ...more...

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22 February 2000 - Landing of STS-99. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-99. STS-99 landed at 23:22 GMT.

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Bibliography and Further Reading

• NASA Astronaut Biographies, Johnson Space Center, NASA, 1995-present. Accessed at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/.