Millie Hughes-Fulford facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Millie Hughes-Fulford
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Millie Elizabeth Hughes
December 21, 1945 Mineral Wells, Texas, U.S.
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| Died | February 2, 2021 (aged 75) Mill Valley, California, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Tarleton State University (B.S.), 1968 Texas Woman's University (Ph.D.), 1972 |
| Occupation | Chemist |
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| VA payload specialist | |
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Time in space
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9 days, 2 hours and 14 minutes |
| Selection | January 1983 |
| Missions | STS-40 |
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Mission insignia
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Millie Elizabeth Hughes-Fulford (born Hughes; December 21, 1945 – February 2, 2021) was an amazing American scientist. She was a medical investigator and molecular biologist. She became a payload specialist and flew into space with NASA. She traveled aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia in June 1991.
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Millie Hughes-Fulford's Early Life
Millie Elizabeth Hughes was born in Mineral Wells, Texas, on December 21, 1945. She finished high school in 1962. At just 16 years old, she started college. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry and biology from Tarleton State University in 1968.
She then began her advanced studies at Texas Woman's University. She focused on plasma chemistry. She earned her Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy) in 1972. She also received special fellowships during her studies.
Millie Hughes-Fulford's Career
After getting her doctorate in 1972, Dr. Hughes-Fulford started her research career. She joined the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. There, she studied how the body controls cholesterol. Later, she moved her lab to San Francisco.
In 1978, she saw an advertisement looking for female astronauts. This inspired her to apply for the space program. She was among the top 20 applicants out of 8,000 people. Even though she didn't get selected that time, she kept trying. She also served in the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Corps from 1981 to 1995. She reached the rank of major.
Becoming a NASA Astronaut
NASA chose Hughes-Fulford as a payload specialist in January 1983. A payload specialist is a scientist or expert who goes into space to perform specific experiments.
In June 1991, she flew aboard STS-40. This mission was called Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS 1). It was the first Spacelab mission focused on studying living things in space. SLS-1 was also special because it was the first mission with three female crew members. Hughes-Fulford was NASA's first female payload specialist to orbit Earth. She was also the first person from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs in space.
The mission traveled over 3.2 million miles. The crew completed more than 18 experiments in nine days. They gathered more medical data than any NASA flight before. The mission lasted 9 days, 2 hours, 14 minutes, and 20 seconds.
Research After Spaceflight
After her space mission, Hughes-Fulford became a professor at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center. She continued her research there until she passed away in 2021. She led the Hughes-Fulford Laboratory. Her research focused on immunology (how the body fights disease), bioastronautics (biology in space), and oncology (cancer studies).
She led several experiments that flew on space missions. These experiments studied how osteoblast (bone cells) grow. They flew on STS-76 in 1996, STS-81 in 1997, and STS-84 in 1997. Her work helped understand why astronauts can get osteoporosis (weak bones) in space.
One of her experiments was lost in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster in 2003. She continued her research on the International Space Station (ISS). In 2006, an experiment she worked on launched to the ISS on a Soyuz TMA-9 rocket. It looked at how spaceflight affects the body's immune system.
She also studied how genes work in space. Her most recent experiments flew to the ISS on a SpaceX rocket. In these studies, she found reasons for changes in the immune system during spaceflight. She wrote over 120 papers about her research.
Personal Life
Millie Hughes-Fulford was married twice. She had a daughter from her first marriage. In 1983, she married George Fulford, a pilot. She passed away in Mill Valley, California, on February 2, 2021. She died from lymphoma, a type of cancer. Her last research paper was about this disease.
Awards and Honors
- 2004–2013 Universities Space Research Association, Board of Trustees
- 1995–2001 Advisory Board for Marine Biological Laboratory, Sciences Writing Program
- 1995 International Zontian
- 1995 Marin County Woman of the Year
- 1991 NASA Space Flight Medal
- 1987–1990 National Research Council, Committee on Space Biology and Space Medicine
- 1986–1989 Board of Regents Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University
- 1984 Presidential Award for Federal Employee for Western Region
- 1971–1972 MacArthur Foundation Fellow
- 1971–1972 American Association of University Women's Fellowship
- 1968–1971 National Science Foundation Fellow (Graduate)
- 1965 National Science Foundation Summer Research Fellow (Undergraduate)
See also
In Spanish: Millie Hughes-Fulford para niños
