Sarah Gillis facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sarah Gillis
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| Born |
Sarah Levine
January 1, 1994 Palo Alto, California, U.S.
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| Occupation | Senior Space Operations Engineer at SpaceX |
| Space career | |
| SpaceX Commercial Astronaut | |
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Time in space
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4 days, 22 hours, 13 minutes |
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Total EVAs
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1 |
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Total EVA time
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7 minutes, 15 seconds |
| Missions | Polaris Dawn |
Sarah Levine "Cooper" Gillis (born January 1, 1994) is an American engineer. She works for SpaceX as a senior space operations engineer. In September 2024, she flew into space on a mission called Polaris Dawn. This was a private spaceflight run by SpaceX.
During the Polaris Dawn mission, Sarah Gillis made history. She completed the first-ever commercial spacewalk with Jared Isaacman. This made her the youngest person to ever do a spacewalk! She also set a new record with Anna Menon for women traveling farthest from Earth.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Sarah Gillis grew up in Colorado. She finished high school in Boulder in 2012. She then went to the University of Colorado Boulder. In 2017, she earned a degree in aerospace engineering. An old NASA astronaut, Joseph R. Tanner, helped her decide to study this field.
Working at SpaceX
Sarah Gillis started working at SpaceX in 2015. This was while she was still in college. She began as an intern, helping to test the Dragon spacecraft. After graduating, she joined SpaceX full-time.
Today, she is a lead space operations engineer. This means she helps manage the astronaut training program for SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft. She has trained many astronauts, including those for the first Demo-2 and Crew-1 missions. She also trained the Inspiration4 crew. They were the first all-civilian (non-government) crew to go into orbit.
Sarah is also an experienced Mission Control Operator. She has helped guide Dragon cargo missions to the International Space Station. She also works as a Crew Operations and Resources Engineer (CORE) for crewed Dragon missions. This role is similar to a CAPCOM at NASA.
The Polaris Dawn Mission
In September 2024, Sarah Gillis flew on the Polaris Dawn mission. This was a special private spaceflight organized by Jared Isaacman. During this mission, she performed a spacewalk with Isaacman. This made her the youngest person ever to do a spacewalk!
Sarah and Anna Menon also set a new record. They traveled farther from Earth than any other women before them. Later in the mission, Sarah, who plays the violin, played a song from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. She did this to help raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and El Sistema.
Media Spotlight
Sarah Gillis has also been on TV. She appears in episodes 3, 4, and 5 of the 2021 Netflix series Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space.
See also
- Polaris program
