MIT NROTC Alumni News

MIT NROTC Alumna Makes Mission To Space Station By Domenico Pellegrini So how does one go from working underwater to working in outer space? Just ask CAPT Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper. Now a NASA astronaut, she recently became only the seventh female ever to walk in space. This past September CAPT Stefanyshyn-Piper was a member of NASA's Atlantis shuttle crew. The shuttle's mission was to continue construction on the International Space Station. During her 13 hours of extravehicular activities, CAPT Stefanyshyn-Piper was responsible for installing structures on the outside of the Space Station that provide solar power to the Space Station. CAPT Stefanyshyn-Piper graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1985. Out of the classroom she was a member of the varsity crew team and participated in the MIT Navy ROTC unit. While at the unit, CAPT Stefanyshyn-Piper learned a number of things that have served her well in her professional careers. As she noted in our interview, "One of them was the need to think outside the box and look for different ways of tackling a problem. She also talked about teamwork commenting that, how well the team worked together often dictated the outcome of the task at hand. After she was commissioned upon graduation in June of 1985, she went to Panama City, Florida where she completed training at the Naval Diving and Salvage training center. CAPT Stefanyshyn-Piper chose to go to dive school because she wanted a career that was both mentally and physically challenging. She originally wanted to go to flight school and become a pilot. However, she was disqualified from pilot training after an eye exam. In the early 1990s CAPT Stefanyshyn-Piper learned about NASA's plans to build a Space Station. At this time she also learned that the training for the space walks that would be necessary to build the Space Station was done underwater. As a Navy diver she was very qualified for this type of training and therefore she applied and was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996. Besides, as she commented in our interview, I had always wanted to fly, so why not fly onboard the Space Shuttle. And so in 2002 she was selected for the Atlantis Shuttle crew and this past September finally flew.
Alumni Information Submission Page