Tamara E. Jernigan

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Tamara Jernigan
Tamara Jernigan
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on June 4, 1985
( 11th NASA Group )
Calls: 5 space flights
Start of the
first space flight:
June 5, 1991
Landing of the
last space flight:
June 6, 1999
Time in space: 63d 1h 24min
EVA inserts: 1
EVA total duration: 7h 55min
retired on September 21, 2001
Space flights

Tamara Elizabeth "Tammy" Jernigan (born May 7, 1959 in Chattanooga , Tennessee ) is an American former astronaut .

Life

Jernigan received a bachelor's degree in physics in 1981 and a master's degree in engineering from Stanford University in 1983 . In 1985 she received a Masters in Astronomy from the University of California . In 1988 she received a PhD in space physics and astronomy from Rice University .

After studying at Stanford, Jernigan was a researcher at NASA's Ames Research Center from June 1981 to July 1985 . Jernigan applied to NASA's 10th Astronaut Group to no avail. In June 1985 she was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate with the 11th group and then trained as a mission specialist.

STS-40

Jernigan had her first space mission on the STS-40 mission with the Space Shuttle Columbia . 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, the first to be exclusively concerned with the life sciences. The most important experiment was Spacelab Life Sciences-1. Physiological studies were carried out on humans, 30 rodents and thousands of tiny jellyfish. Of the 18 studies, ten dealt with humans, seven with rodents and one with jellyfish.

STS-52

On October 22, 1992, Jernigan took off on the Columbia space shuttle for the STS-52 mission. Takeoff and landing were at the Kennedy Space Center. The Italian Laser Geodynamic Satellite (LAGEOS) was deployed, which is able to measure movements of the earth's crust.

STS-67

On her third space mission, Jernigan flew into space on March 2, 1995 with the space shuttle Endeavor . It was the astro-observatory's second flight with three ultra-violet telescopes on board. The flight lasted over 16 days and ended with landing on March 18, 1995 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

STS-80

On November 19, 1996, Jernigan flew into space again. Only eight hours after the start of STS-80 , the astronomy platform ORFEUS-SPAS , sponsored by Germany, was suspended. She observed stellar objects for two weeks. Schoolchildren in the Federal Republic of Germany could take part via the Internet. At the beginning of the fourth day of flight, the plate-shaped WSF was deployed. The WSF flew alongside the Columbia for three days . In doing so, it created a particularly pure vacuum in its “slipstream” by removing all molecules of the residual atmosphere out of the way. New semiconductors for electronics were produced on the back of the WSF . Two Jernigan Space Exits (EVAs) had to be canceled because the airlock could not be opened. The longest shuttle flight to date came to an end after almost 18 days.

STS-96

On May 27, 1999, Jernigan flew the Discovery to the International Space Station (ISS). In preparation for the first crew of the ISS, four tons of supplies and components were brought to the space station. During an outboard operation , Jernigan and Daniel Barry assembled, among other things, two cranes (Strela and ORU) in 7 hours and 55 minutes, which were needed to move larger loads when expanding the station.

In September 2001, Jernigan left NASA and moved to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Northern California.

Tamara Jernigan has been married to astronaut Peter Wisoff since 1999 .

See also

Web links

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