Beth Moses facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Natalie Beth Moses
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Beth Moses at Virgin Galactic, 2019
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| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Purdue University, B.S. 1992; M.S. 1994 |
| Spouse(s) | Mike Moses |
| Status | Active |
| Occupation | Commercial astronaut trainer |
| Space career | |
Virgin Galactic commercial astronaut |
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Time in space
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1 hour, 13 minutes and 15 seconds |
| Missions | VF-01, Unity 22, Unity 25, Galactic 02, Galactic 03, Galactic 04 |
Beth Moses is a very important person at Virgin Galactic. She is the chief instructor for people who will fly into space. She also manages the inside design of the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) calls her a commercial astronaut. This means she flies into space for a company, not a government.
Beth Moses was the first woman to fly into space on a vehicle launched by a private company. This happened on February 22, 2019, aboard the VSS Unity VF-01 flight. She was also part of a six-person crew that flew the first fully-crewed test flight to space on July 11, 2021.
Career in Space
Natalie Beth Stubbings grew up in Northbrook, Illinois. She went to Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics. There, she earned degrees in engineering related to airplanes and spacecraft.
After college, she worked for NASA. She helped put together the International Space Station (ISS). She led a team that designed and tested the tools used for spacewalks. These spacewalks were needed to build and fix the space station.
Later, Beth Moses joined Virgin Galactic. She became their chief astronaut instructor. She also works on how the inside of the spacecraft looks and feels for future passengers.
During her spaceflight on February 22, 2019, she did something special. She was the first person on a suborbital mission to unstrap and float around the cabin. She did this to see what it would be like for future passengers. On this flight, she went about 89.9 kilometers (55.9 miles) above Earth. Because of this flight, the Federal Aviation Administration gave her the Commercial Astronaut Wings. This is a special award for people who fly into space for private companies.
Achievements and Awards
Beth Moses has received several important awards. She won the National Science Foundation's Microgravity Research Award. This award helped her study how things behave in very low gravity.
In 2009, the International Space Station project won the Robert J. Collier trophy. This is a very important award in aviation and space. Beth Moses played a big part in the work that led to this award. In 2021, she also received the Distinguished Alumni Award from her old high school, Glenbrook North High School.
