ALUMNI PROFILE JESSICA MEIR , PHD ’ 09
SPACE TR AVELER
Jessica Meir , PhD ’ 09 , reflects on her mission to the International Space Station .
BY MALINDA DANZIGER ’ 00 AND NILOU SHAHBANDI ’ 23
N
ASA astronaut Jessica Meir , PhD ’ 09 , has a passion for our planet . For six months , from September 2019 to April 2020 , she watched us from above while aboard the International Space Station ( ISS ). The station ’ s observation module , the cupola , provided an unrivaled window to the black void of space , the Earth ’ s thin band of atmosphere and its extraordinary palette of colors — from rugged landforms to the vastness of the oceans .
While aboard the ISS , Meir and the crew contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology , earth science , human research , physical sciences and technology development . In October 2019 , she and NASA astronaut Christina Koch completed the first all-woman spacewalk , one of three spacewalks Meir completed during her 205 days in space . And in 2020 , she was selected as one of eight members of NASA ’ s Artemis mission , which will send the first woman and first person of color to the moon by 2025 .
UC San Diego Magazine asked Meir to reflect on her first trip to space and what ’ s next for human space travel .
First All-Woman Spacewalk
My first spacewalk was only a few weeks after arriving to the International Space Station . Because spacewalks are one of the riskiest things we do in space , I didn ’ t have the capacity or ability to focus on
Photocaption lorem ipsum dolor : Obit quis imil eicabo . Ut es nonsequ untiis mos eos et ommolla borest , ad mo delite cum , occae solupit ut assin ressime niminve rnatia nulpari
any kind of historical impact at the time because I needed to have 100 % concentration on the job at hand .
It was only the day after it was over that I had time to process the impact of our spacewalk . For me and Christina Koch , my colleague and friend who did the spacewalk with me , we don ’ t really look at it as a personal achievement . Everybody on board was equally qualified to do spacewalks , it just happened to be Christina and myself who were going out the hatch that day . But we really wanted to pay tribute to the generations of women and other minorities that had been pushing boundaries and breaking glass ceilings : They were the ones that enabled us to be there that day . It was their hard work that made it feel like it was just part of our job . We hope that moment was really a celebratory event for them to revel in their achievements that allowed us to be where we were at that moment . We captured the spirit of so many that day . It is now our responsibility to continue to inspire others to pay it forward .
Great Explorations
Going to space definitely changes you . Having seen the Earth from above with your own eyes , you realize just how fragile it is , how special it is , and how we need to protect it . The other thing is you realize just how interconnected we all are . Looking down at the Earth , I see these contiguous land masses where there are no borders , none of these barriers we ’ ve imposed as humans . Everything is connected . You realize that we truly are one species and we ’ re in this together for the pandemic and we ’ re in this together to care for our planet . I also saw just how insignificant we are as humans . When you look down at the planet and see all of this blackness of space around you ,
40 FALL 2022