---
title: From the ISS to UMD
date: 2024-11-04T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/from-the-iss-to-umd"
section: Articles
---
# From the ISS to UMD

*November 4, 2024* — by [Maryland Today Staff](/author/maryland-today-staff)


> A Week After Returning to Earth, Alum Joins 6 Others to Accept Alumni Association Honors

*UMD 2024 Celebration of Terps 172 1920x1080 — From left, Hall of Fame inductee Joy Bauer ’86 and President's Award recipient Jeanette Epps M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ’00 pose with Angela Dimopoulos '07, senior director of alumni engagement and outreach with the Alumni Association, at its annual Celebration of Terps: Featuring the Maryland Awards.*

NASA astronaut Jeanette Epps M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ’00 came from the International Space Station “screaming back into the atmosphere” and splash-landed in the Gulf of Mexico on Oct. 25 after 235 days in orbit.

One week later, she stood on a stage at the University of Maryland, joking that gravity is overrated and marveling that she was being honored for living her dream.

Then she said, she realized that the award was about everyone—including her dissertation adviser, Distinguished University Professor of aerospace engineering Inderjit Chopra; President Darryll J. Pines, who as a professor sat on her dissertation committee; her twin sister and fellow Terp Janet Epps Smith Ph.D. ‘98 and the ground team at NASA—”who supported me on this crazy, amazing journey that I enjoyed thoroughly.”

She was among seven accomplished Terps recognized Friday night at the Samuel Riggs IV Alumni Center at the Alumni Association's annual Celebration of Terps: Featuring the Maryland Awards.


*People pose in two rows, seated and standing, for a group photo. — Honorees and special guests at the event included, from back left: Jim Spencer ’90, Alumni Association Board of Governors President Laurie De Armond ’94, Sylvie DeLaHunt ’14, M.S. ’16, Alumni Association Senior Executive Director Jessica K. Roberts, UMD President Darryll J. Pines, Evan Lutz ’14 and UMD Vice President for University Relations Jim Harris. Front row, from left, Joy Bauer ’86, Jeanette Epps M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ’00, Oneyda Hernandez ’23 and Sharon Akers ’78.*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community)


**Tags:** [Aerospace Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/aerospace-engineering)


**Units:** [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering), [Alumni Association](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni-association), [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences), [Philip Merrill College of Journalism](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philip-merrill-college-journalism), [Robert H. Smith School of Business](https://today.umd.edu/topic/robert-h-smith-school-business), [School of Public Health](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-health)