Universe of Possibilities

Sometimes a dream deferred isn’t really a dream denied—it’s just put on hold while life moves on. Jeanette Epps M.S. ’94, Ph.D. ‘00 spent decades sure her childhood visions of space travel were unrealistic. She earned advanced degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland before going to Ford Motor Company’s Scientific Research Lab, and then to the CIA, where her job as a technical intelligence officer took her to hot spots around the world.

It wasn’t until her late 30s that Epps finally decided to shoot for the stars. Her years of preparation for space—conscious or not—paid off, and she passed a rigorous selection process to join the astronaut class of 2009. Today she’s the only African-American woman in the active astronaut ranks. She’s also one of two UMD active astronauts; Richard R. Arnold M.S. ’92 flew on the STS-119 Discovery mission in March 2009.

When Epps will make it into space is an open question. NASA hired her just before the scheduled retirement of the space shuttle, as well as the year before the budget-driven cancellation of the shuttle’s planned successor, the Constellation program. The United States was left without a prospect of manned spaceflight capability, relying on Russian Soyuz spacecraft to access the International Space Station (ISS).

But now private companies, SpaceX and Boeing, are working rapidly to build spacecraft to taxi people and supplies to the ISS—four astronauts were recently chosen to fly the craft when ready—and NASA itself is refocusing on human space exploration with the Orion program, a Constellation spinoff. Possible targets include Mars, an asteroid or the moon. In an interview, edited for space and clarity, Epps says she expects he childhood dream to one day come true on her first space mission.

TERP: It might be a decade before NASA is ready to travel to destinations like an asteroid, and longer before a Mars journey. Do think you’ll still be an astronaut when that happens?

Epps: I could easily still be here. At that time I’d be in my early- to mid-50s, which isn’t an unusual age for an astronaut.

TERP: When do you think you will make it to space?

Epps: When our class was chosen, we were selected to fly with the Russians [Epps and other astronauts intensively study the Russian language as a result] and whatever came next. SpaceX and Boeing should have vehicles in 2017 they can test, and be carrying human beings in 2018. I can’t say when my first mission will be, but the nice thing for us is that we’re in the queue to be in the Soyuz, and after that maybe in the commercial crew, and maybe even the Orion after that. Right now is an exciting time to be at NASA, no matter what your role is—to be part of the mission, because of all the possibilities.

TERP: How did your Maryland education help you?

Epps: Going to the University of Maryland taught me many things, not just engineering. For example, teamwork within a diverse group is a key part of being an astronaut. I was in the aerospace engineering department, with people from all over the world —from India, Africa, France and a lot of other places. What I learned there, I’ve taken with me to every job I’ve had since.

TERP: What does an astronaut with a doctorate in aerospace engineering focus on?

Epps: Aerospace engineering taught me much of the mechanics I’ve used in training, as well as analytical thinking. However, there are many things that we do in our astronaut training that aren’t directly related to our academic training. Our real skill is to be able to think analytically and solve a range of problems. On the science end, I could do genetics, or dissections on orbit. Or anything else.

TERP: What’s the training like?

Epps: As we wait for a mission, we train continually. We do spacewalk training underwater in the neutral buoyancy lab, proximity and rendezvous operations [maneuvering and docking of spacecraft in orbit,] and orbital mechanics. Last year, I trained underwater for nine days in NEEMO 18, an underwater lab in Florida. We use it as an underwater analog to prepare for living and working on the International Space Station.

TERP: Where did the idea to become an astronaut come from?

Epps: When I was in elementary school, my family noticed that my sister and I excelled in math and science. My older brother in particular was impressed with my achievements. When I was about 9 years old, I specifically recall him coming home from college, and after we discussed my math and science grades, he exclaimed, “You could be an aerospace engineer or an astronaut too, if you wanted to.” This was the year Sally Ride and several other women were selected to be astronauts. Those words left a lasting impression in my heart and my mind.

TERP: And from that day on it was your sole focus?

Epps: Actually, no. I liked the idea but thought it was unlikely I’d be chosen. And later at the University of Maryland, I met so many people who had applied that I thought if they can’t do it, how can I? But finally, after working at Ford and the CIA, an astronaut friend (Leland D. Melvin) convinced me to apply.

And at some point in my late 30s, I said, OK, I’ve prepared myself for this. And here I am.

TERP: Do you feel any special sense of responsibility as the only active astronaut who’s a black woman?

Epps: Yes, I do feel a special responsibility not to let certain people down who might be looking up to me. I was raised in a way that there was really nothing I thought I couldn’t do. The fact that I never saw anyone who looked like me doing this didn’t really matter to me, but I think it does matter to a lot of young girls. So I do want to send them the message that if I’m doing this, there’s no reason you can’t do this too.