Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper
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Stefanyshyn-Piper in 2003
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| Born |
Heidemarie Martha Stefanyshyn
February 7, 1963 |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Captain, USN |
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Time in space
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27d 15h 36m |
| Selection | NASA Group 16 (1996) |
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Total EVAs
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5 |
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Total EVA time
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33h 42m |
| Missions | STS-115 STS-126 |
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Mission insignia
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Heidemarie Martha Stefanyshyn-Piper (born February 7, 1963) is an American Naval officer and former NASA astronaut. She reached the rank of Captain in the United States Navy. She is also an expert in marine salvage, which means rescuing ships or submarines. For example, she helped free the tanker Exxon Houston when it got stuck near Hawaii. She also helped plan the rescue of a Peruvian submarine.
Stefanyshyn-Piper has received many awards for her service. She flew on two Space Shuttle missions, STS-115 and STS-126. During these missions, she performed five spacewalks, spending a total of 33 hours and 42 minutes outside the spacecraft. This makes her one of the astronauts with the most spacewalk time.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Stefanyshyn-Piper was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, USA. Her family has Ukrainian-American roots. Her father, Michael Stefanyshyn, was born in Ukraine and was sent to work in Germany during World War II. After the war, he moved to the U.S. with his German wife.
Heidemarie grew up in the Ukrainian community in Minnesota. She was a member of Plast, a Ukrainian scouting group. She also speaks Ukrainian.
In 1980, she graduated from Derham Hall High School. She then earned two degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She has a ham radio license, which means she can communicate with people around the world using radio.
Stefanyshyn-Piper is married to Glenn A. Piper, and they have one son. She added "Piper" to her last name to honor her family.
Military Career Highlights
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper joined the Navy in June 1985. She trained to become a Navy diver and salvage officer. This training taught her how to recover sunken objects and rescue ships. One of her big projects was helping to free the tanker Exxon Houston in Hawaii. By July 2009, she was a Captain in the United States Navy.
During her time in the military, she received many important awards. These include the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit.
Becoming a NASA Astronaut
NASA chose Stefanyshyn-Piper as an astronaut candidate in April 1996. She started her training at the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. After two years, she became a qualified mission specialist. She helped prepare payloads (equipment for space) and worked in the spacewalk branch of the Astronaut Office.
First Space Mission: STS-115 Atlantis (2006)
Stefanyshyn-Piper's first space mission was STS-115 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. It launched on September 9, 2006, and returned on September 21. She was a mission specialist and became the eighth woman to perform a spacewalk. She completed two spacewalks on this mission, totaling 12 hours and 8 minutes. This made her one of the most experienced female spacewalkers at the time. She was also the first woman from Minnesota to go to space.
- Spacewalk One (5 hours, 26 minutes): She and astronaut Joe Tanner helped install a new part of the International Space Station's structure. They connected power cables and prepared the solar arrays for deployment.
- Spacewalk Three (6 hours, 42 minutes): Again with Joe Tanner, she installed a radiator and powered up a cooling system for the new solar arrays. They also replaced an antenna.
Before her flight, she shared her thoughts on space exploration:
To me exploring space is just a natural progression of, where humans are going. As we become more advanced and we have more technology to go farther. Thousands of years ago people would just go beyond the next hill, go over the mountain, go across the river. Then it led to going across the oceans. And, then it was "OK, let's go into the skies." We now have airplanes. We can fly. We have submarines and submersibles; we can go into the waters. So looking into the skies and looking at the stars and at the planets and thinking, what's out there... We're curious. We, as humans always want to know what's out there. To me it, it just seems natural that we've looked around here and we're just going to go look out farther. We're still developing the means to go out there farther. But that's just where we're going to go next. To me, exploration makes sense because we're always looking at what's the next thing out there -- what else can we learn, and how can we go there. Maybe we can learn something that we can bring back here and help solve some of the problems we have on Earth.
After returning to Earth, Piper briefly fainted during the welcome ceremony. This is a normal reaction for astronauts as their bodies adjust to Earth's gravity again.
Underwater Training: NEEMO 12 (2007)
Stefanyshyn-Piper commanded the 12th NEEMO expedition. This NASA program studies how humans can survive in extreme places. They use the Aquarius underwater laboratory to prepare for future space exploration.
Second Space Mission: STS-126 Endeavour (2008)
Stefanyshyn-Piper flew as a mission specialist on STS-126 aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. It launched on November 14, 2008, and returned on November 30. She was the lead spacewalker for three of the four spacewalks on this mission. After her fifth spacewalk, her total time outside in space was 33 hours and 42 minutes.
- Spacewalk One (6 hours, 52 minutes): With astronaut Stephen G. Bowen, she moved equipment and began cleaning and lubricating a part of the station's solar array system called the SARJ.
- Spacewalk Two (6 hours, 45 minutes): With astronaut Robert S. Kimbrough, she moved carts on the station and continued working on the SARJ.
- Spacewalk Three (6 hours, 57 minutes): With Stephen G. Bowen, she finished cleaning and lubricating the SARJ.
The Lost Tool Bag Incident
During her first spacewalk on STS-126, on November 18, 2008, Stefanyshyn-Piper accidentally lost a tool bag. She was cleaning up some grease from a tool when the bag floated away. She reported it to Mission Control, saying, "I guess one of my crew lock bags was not transferred and it's loose." The bag floated away from the station and did not cause any danger. It became space debris and eventually burned up in Earth's atmosphere almost a year later.
Astronauts on the mission had extra tools, so they could share. This meant the important tasks of the spacewalk could still be completed. The lost equipment was worth about US$100,000. A flight director explained that human error can happen, even in space. Stefanyshyn-Piper said watching the bag float away was "very disheartening."
In July 2009, Stefanyshyn-Piper left NASA's Astronaut Corps. She returned to her duties in the Navy.
Steven Lindsey, the Chief of the Astronaut Office, praised her work. He said she was an "outstanding astronaut" and helped restore full power to the International Space Station.
In August 2009, she became the chief technology officer for the Naval Sea Systems Command. Later, in May 2011, she became the commander of the Carderock Division of the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Maryland.
Captain Stefanyshyn-Piper retired from the U.S. Navy on July 1, 2015, after 30 years of active service.
Images for kids
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STS-115 mission patch
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STS-126 mission patch
See also
In Spanish: Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper para niños
