Welcome Jessica Watkins, The Only African-American In The Latest NASA Group Of Soon-To-Be Astronauts

NASA announced its first class of astronaut candidates since 2013 on Wednesday, June 7th, 2017. The twelve candidates from various backgrounds with different fields of study met  rigorous requirements and made it to the top of 18,300 applicants. Among them is one black woman: Jessica Watkins.

Watkins, who at the age of 29, earned a Bachelor’s degree in Geological and Environmental Sciences at Stanford University, and a Doctorate in Geology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Before being accepted in the 2017 Astronaut Candidate Class, Watkins worked at NASA’s Ames Research Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was a collaborator on the Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity.

“I’m very excited about the diversity on this team,” Watkins told to Blastr. “This amazing group of people. I think that says a lot about NASA and their goals towards creating a diverse workforce,” she said. “I think the thing about diversity is that it allows for experiences that may not be exactly the same to bring different things to the table. And then the other side of that… is the idea of being able to be a face to others who may not see people who look like them in STEM fields in general, and doing cool things like going to space.”

During undergraduate internships at NASA’s Ames Research Center, Watkins conducted research supporting the Phoenix Mars Lander mission and prototype Mars drill testing. She also served as chief geologist for NASA Spaceward Bound Crew 86 at the Mars Desert Research Station in 2009. As a graduate student, Watkins participated in several internships at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), including analysis of near-earth asteroids discovered by the NEOWISE mission in 2011, tactical and strategic planning for the Curiosity mission in 2013, and system design testing for the upcoming Mars 2020 and Mars Sample Return missions the following year. In addition, she served as a science operations team member for a Desert Research and Technology Studies (Desert RATS) analog mission at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 2011 and participated in the NASA Planetary Science Summer School at JPL in 2016. Watkins will report for duty in August 2017 to begin two years of training as an Astronaut Candidate. Upon completion, she will be assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office while she awaits a flight assignment.

“Since the age of 9, I wanted to be an astronaut,” Watkins told BET. “I was originally inspired by an after-school enrichment program at Judith Resnik Elementary.”

The new class will begin their two-year training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston in August. While training, the candidates will learn a range of lessons, including on the International Space Station systems, robotics training, space walks, the Russian language and flight training.