Millie Hughes-Fulford

Millie Hughes-Fulford

Country:	USA
Organization:	NASA
selected on	January 9, 1984 ( 4th Spacelab Group )
Calls:	1 space flight
Begin:	June 5, 1991
Landing:	June 14, 1991
Time in space:	9d 2h 14min
retired on	June 14, 1991
Space flights
STS-40 (1991)

Millie Elizabeth Hughes-Fulford (born December 21, 1945 in Mineral Wells , Texas , USA ; † February 2, 2021 in San Francisco ) was an American biochemist and astronaut . She was the first American woman in space who was not a professional astronaut.

education

Hughes-Fulford received a bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology from Tarleton State University in 1968 and a PhD in chemistry from Texas Woman's University in 1972 .

Astronaut activity

After an unsuccessful application for the eighth NASA astronaut group, Hughes-Fulford was selected in January 1984 with the fourth Spacelab group by NASA as payload specialist, who was responsible for supervising scientific experiments during the flight.

STS-71-E / SLS-1

The start of the Atlantis mission STS-71-E / SLS-1 was planned for April 1987, but was canceled due to the Challenger disaster . The planned crew members for this SLS-1 mission were: Vance Brand , David Griggs , John Fabian , James Bagian , Rhea Seddon , Francis Gaffney and Robert Phillips . Hughes-Fulford acted as replacements for Gaffney and Phillips.

STS-81-M

The start of the Atlantis mission STS-81-M was planned for July 1988, but was also canceled because of the Challenger disaster. Millie Hughes-Fulford was the only known crew member of this SLS-2 mission.

STS-40

On June 5, 1991, she took off on the Space Shuttle Columbia for the STS-40 mission . This mission was postponed several times due to various defects on the space shuttle. The launch finally took place on June 5, 1991. It was the fifth Spacelab mission and the first to focus exclusively on the life sciences. The most important experiment was Spacelab Life Sciences-1. In this physiological studies in humans, 30 rodents and thousands of tiny jellyfish performed. Of the 18 investigations, ten dealt with humans, seven with rodents and one with jellyfish.

According to NASA

Hughes-Fulford was a professor at the Medical Center at the University of California at San Francisco. She was director of the Cell Growth and Differentiation Laboratory and served on the staff of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in San Francisco. She was involved in the evaluation of the SpaceHab / Biorack medical experiments on bone growth of the shuttle missions STS-76 , STS-81 and STS-84 . Other NASA medical experiments, including those on the International Space Station , were also supervised by her.

Private

Millie Hughes-Fulford died in early February 2021 at the age of 75. She was widowed and had a daughter.

Publications (selection)

To infinity ... and beyond! Human spaceflight and life science , in: FASEB Journal , vol. 25.2011, pp. 2858-2864
(with S. Marlene Grenon et al.): Polyunsaturated fatty acids and peripheral artery disease , in: Vascular Medicine , vol. 17.2012, pp. 51-63
(with Tammy T. Chang): Molecular mechanisms underlying the enhanced functions of three-dimensional hepatocyte aggregates , in: Biomaterials , vol. 35.2014, pp. 2162-2171
(with Tammy T. Chang et al.): Spaceflight alters expression of microRNA during T-cell activation , in: FASEB Journal , vol. 29.2015, pp. 4893-4900

Further publications on PubMed .

Web links

Commons : Millie Hughes-Fulford - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Short biography of Millie Hughes-Fulford at spacefacts.de

NASA biography of Millie Hughes-Fulford (PDF)

Biography of Millie Hughes-Fulford in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)

NASA Remembers Millie Hughes-Fulford (English)

Obituary article on collectspace.com, February 4th

Millie Hughes-Fulford on the homepage of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, with brief curriculum vitae, awards and list of publications

Individual evidence

↑ Millie Hughes-Fulford, astronaut and UCSF scientist, dies at 75. In: San Francisco Chronicle . February 5, 2021, accessed February 6, 2021 .
^ ^A ^b Millie Hughes-Fulford, first female payload specialist in space, dies. collectspace.com, February 4, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 .

personal data
SURNAME	Hughes-Fulford, Millie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Hughes-Fulford, Millie Elizabeth
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American biochemist and astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH	December 21, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH	Mineral Wells , Texas
DATE OF DEATH	before February 4, 2021

[1] Millie Hughes-Fulford, astronaut and UCSF scientist, dies at 75. In: San Francisco Chronicle . February 5, 2021, accessed February 6, 2021 .

[collectspace-2] A ^b Millie Hughes-Fulford, first female payload specialist in space, dies. collectspace.com, February 4, 2021, accessed February 5, 2021 .