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Jessica Meir
Born
Jessica Ulrika Meir

(1977-07-01) July 1, 1977 (age 47)
Caribou, Maine, U.S.
Citizenship
  • United States
  • Sweden
Education
Space career
NASA astronaut
Time in space
204d 15h 19m
SelectionNASA Group 21 (2013)
Total EVAs
3
Total EVA time
21h 44m
MissionsSoyuz MS-15 (Expedition 61/62)
Mission insignia
Scientific career
Fields
Institutions
ThesisBlood Oxygen Transport and Depletion: The Key of Consummate Divers (2009)
Doctoral advisorPaul Ponganis
Other academic advisorsBill Milsom (postdoc)
Gerald Kooyman[1]

Jessica Ulrika Meir (IPA: /mɪər/; meer;[2] born (1977-07-01)July 1, 1977) is an American NASA astronaut, marine biologist, and physiologist. She was previously an assistant professor of anesthesia at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, following postdoctoral research in comparative physiology at the University of British Columbia.[3][4] She has studied the diving physiology and behavior of emperor penguins in Antarctica,[5] and the physiology of bar-headed geese, which are able to migrate over the Himalayas.[6] In September 2002, Meir served as an aquanaut on the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 4 (NEEMO 4) crew.[7] In 2013, she was selected by NASA to Astronaut Group 21. In 2016, Meir participated in ESA CAVES, a training course in which international astronauts train in a space-analogue cave environment.[8] Meir launched on September 25, 2019, to the ISS onboard Soyuz MS-15, where she served as a flight Engineer during Expedition 61 and 62.[9] On October 18, 2019, Meir and Christina Koch were the first women to participate in an all-female spacewalk.

Meir was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2020.[10]

Early life and career

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Meir was born in Caribou, Maine, to Josef H. Meir, an Israeli of Iraqi-Jewish descent,[11][12] and Ulla-Britt Meir from Sweden.[13] Her father was born in Baghdad, Iraq in 1925. His family left in 1931 because of antisemitism, moving to British Mandatory Palestine. Studying medicine at the American University of Beirut when the 1948 Arab–Israeli War broke out, he returned to Israel and drove an ambulance. After the war he completed his medical studies at the University of Geneva.[11][12][2] While working as a physician in Sweden he met Ulla-Britt Karlsson, a nurse from Västerås who had grown up as a Christian. The couple moved to the US so that Josef could take up a medical residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital. While there he was offered a job in Caribou where Meir was born. Her mother did not convert to Judaism but Meir identifies as culturally Jewish, attended synagogue while growing up, and had a bat mitzvah.[2][14]

She was inspired to venture into space after watching the Space Shuttle missions on television. Meir knew no one who worked for NASA or for the space program. She attributes her abiding dream of personally participating in space exploration to the love of nature she learned from her mother, and from her father's predilection for wandering and adventure. "And it might have had something to do with the fact that the stars shone so brightly in rural Maine", Meir added.[2]

At the age of 13, Meir attended a youth space camp at Purdue University.[15][16][17] During her undergraduate biology studies at Brown University,[18] she also spent a semester studying at Stockholm University in Sweden during her undergraduate years,[19] and ran a student experiment on a NASA reduced gravity aircraft "vomit comet" in her senior year.[2][16] Meir graduated from Brown in 1999 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biology, magna cum laude.[20] In 2000, Meir graduated with a Master of Space Studies from the International Space University in Strasbourg, France.[21]

Comparative physiology research

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Meir earned a Ph.D. in marine biology in 2009 from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography for research on the diving physiology of emperor penguins and northern elephant seals.[20][22][23] Meir performed field work at Penguin Ranch on McMurdo Sound in Antarctica to study the diving abilities of the emperor penguin while scuba diving alongside them under the ice.[24][23] She also studied elephant seals while they were diving in the Pacific Ocean off Northern California.[23]

Meir did post-doctoral research at the University of British Columbia, raising bar-headed geese so their tolerance of high altitude and low oxygen levels during flight over the Himalayas could be studied in a controlled environment.[6][23] For the 2012 academic year she continued her research as an assistant professor of anesthesia at the Harvard Medical School/Massachusetts General Hospital and then took a leave of absence to enter the astronaut corps.[25]

NASA career

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Meir in 2013

After getting her master's degree, Meir worked from 2000 to 2003 for Lockheed Martin Space Operations as an experiment support scientist for the Human Research Facility at the NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas.[26][27] Meir coordinated and supported human space life science experiments that were performed by astronauts on Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) missions. These experiments included physiological studies (bone loss, muscle control/atrophy, lung function, etc.) to determine if any bodily processes were altered in the spaceflight environment. Meir guided these experiments through the necessary review cycles, developed procedures that the astronauts would use on-orbit, trained crew members, and provided ground support in the Mission Control Center while the astronauts were performing the experiments on the shuttle or ISS.[19]

Meir in 2019

In September 2002, Meir served as an aquanaut on the joint NASA-NOAA NEEMO 4 expedition (NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations), an exploration research mission held in Aquarius, an undersea research laboratory four miles off shore from Key Largo. Meir and her crewmates spent five days saturation diving from the Aquarius habitat as a space analogue for working and training under extreme environmental conditions. The mission was delayed due to Hurricane Isadore, forcing National Undersea Research Center managers to shorten it to an underwater duration of five days. Then, three days into their underwater mission, the crew members were told that Tropical Storm Lili was headed in their direction and to prepare for an early departure from Aquarius. Fortunately, Lili degenerated to the point where it was no longer a threat, so the crew was able to remain the full five days.[7][28]

At the time of NEEMO 4, Meir was leaning toward pursuing a PhD in a field related to evolutionary biology and/or life in extreme environments (astrobiology). She was also fascinated by marine biology (which suited the NEEMO mission well), and hoped to coordinate a specific topic of study to combine these main interests.[19] She received her PhD in marine biology from Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying diving physiology, in 2009.[26]

In 2009, Meir was a semi-finalist for selection to NASA Astronaut Group 20.[29] For the next selection group in June 2013, Meir was chosen as one of eight astronaut candidates for training in NASA Astronaut Group 21.[4] She completed training in July 2015.[30]

In 2016, she participated[31][32] in the ESA CAVES[8] mission[33][34] of the European Space Agency alongside Ricky Arnold, Sergei Korsakov, Aki Hoshide, Ye Guangfu and Pedro Duque.

During her time in the astronaut office, Meir has served as the capsule communicator for various missions. She was the lead capsule communicator for Expedition 47, the BEAM mission, and a HTV (Japanese Space Agency cargo vehicle) mission.[35]

Meir is a member of the science advisory board of Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.[36]

Expedition 61/62

[edit]

In April 2019 NASA announced that Meir had been assigned to the crew of International Space Station Expedition 61/62 as flight engineer, scheduled to launch aboard Soyuz MS-15 alongside Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and MBRSC astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, who would fly a short duration mission and land with the crew of Soyuz MS-12 eight days after launch.[37]

Soyuz MS-15 photographed from the ISS during launch

Meir, Skripochka and Al Mansouri launched aboard MS-15 on September 25, 2019, marking the final flight of the Soyuz-FG rocket and final launch from the Gagarin's Start launch pad, both of which were retired following launch of Soyuz MS-15. The crew successfully reached orbit and rendezvoused with the ISS only six hours later.[38] Soyuz MS-15 docked to the ISS at the very end of Expedition 60, meaning it marked an unusual period on the station where there were nine people aboard. The reason for this was to allow for Al Mansouri's flight, in which he became the first person from the United Arab Emirates to fly in space. Expedition 60 ended on October 3, 2019, when Al Mansouri, alongside Soyuz MS-12 crew members Aleksey Ovchinin and Nick Hague, undocked from the station and returned to Earth, returning the ISS to normal six-crew operations during Expedition 61.[39]

Meir (right) and her Soyuz MS-15 crewmates Hazza Al Mansouri (left) and Oleg Skripochka (center)

During Expedition 61, Meir was scheduled to perform three spacewalks during this mission to help install new lithium-ion batteries on the Port-6 truss structure of the ISS, although this schedule was later changed.[40][41] On October 18, 2019, Meir performed her first spacewalk alongside her colleague Christina Koch, replacing a faulty Battery Charging Discharging Unit. The unit had unexpectedly failed to activate, preventing the station's newly installed lithium-ion batteries from providing additional power.[42] The three other scheduled spacewalks scheduled to install the new batteries had to be postponed in order to perform this spacewalk.[41] The spacewalk lasted seven hours and 17 minutes, and was the first all-female spacewalk in history.[43][44][45] During the spacewalk US president Donald Trump called and spoke to the astronauts in recognition of the historical significance of this event, being corrected by Meir after mistakenly announcing the event as the first time a woman was outside the space station.[46]

Jessica Meir waving at the camera during her EVA on October 18
Meir during her EVA on October 18

On February 6, 2020, Koch, alongside Soyuz MS-13 crew members Aleksandr Skvortsov and Luca Parmitano, returned to Earth, following which Meir, Skripochka and Andrew Morgan transferred over to Expedition 62. Due to delays with NASA's Commercial Crew Program, most of this increment was spent as a crew of three. During the final eight days of the Expedition, the crew was joined by the three person crew of Soyuz MS-16, Russian cosmonauts Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner joined by NASA astronaut Christopher Cassidy, who launched and docked to the station on April 9, 2020.[47] Although their time as a six-person crew was short, the expanded Expedition 62 crew made the most of their time together, conducting experiments on how muscles react to long duration spaceflight as part of NASA's Muscle tone in space (Myotones) experiment.[48] On April 13 Meir and Cassidy, both Maine natives, participated in a live conference with several students from around Maine;[49] the two, joined by Andrew Morgan, also participated in a segment of Some Good News, an internet show hosted by American actor John Krasinski to spread good news during the COVID-19 pandemic.[50]

Meir following the return of Soyuz MS-15

On April 17, 2020, Meir, joined by Skripochka and Morgan, returned to Earth aboard Soyuz MS-15, wrapping up a 205-day spaceflight for Meir and Skripochka and returning Morgan from a 272-day flight. The Soyuz capsule touched down near the town of Dzhezkazgan, Kazakhstan, at 11:16am local time.[51] The departure of the three crew members signaled the start of Expedition 63, commanded by Cassidy.[52]

Personal life

[edit]

Meir played flute, piccolo, and saxophone in her youth, and enjoys reading classical literature. She enjoys recreational cycling, hiking, running, skiing, soccer and scuba diving, and holds a private pilot's license.[26]

Apart from English and Russian (required for astronaut training), she also speaks Swedish.[35] Although Meir's nationality is American, due to also holding Swedish citizenship by virtue of her mother's country of birth, she is technically the first Swedish female citizenship-holder in space and the second Swedish citizen in space overall after ESA astronaut Christer Fuglesang.[53][54][55]

Astronauts are allowed to bring a number of personal items to the International Space Station, and two among Meir's choices were an Israeli flag and a pair of novelty socks with Stars of David and menorahs.[14][56] Most of Meir's relatives from her father's side reside in Israel.[2] Meir has visited Israel twice: the first time as a teenager with her parents and her brother, and the second time in 2016 for work as an astronaut where she gave a talk in Haifa, Israel, at the International Space University summer session.[2] Among other things, she also took pictures of Israel from space.[56]

On International Women's Day in 2023, Meir announced the recent birth of her first child, a girl, on her Instagram account.[57][58] Her partner and co-parent is Duke Brady, an artist and biologist who grew up in Hawaii. He has appeared on two seasons of the Naked and Afraid series.[59]

Awards

[edit]

Awards granted to Meir include:[26]

  • Philanthropic Educational Organization (PEO) Scholar Award (2008);
  • Achievement Rewards for College Scientists (ARCS) Fellowship (2006);
  • Lockheed Martin Space Operations (LMSO) Special Recognition Award (2002);
  • NASA JSC Space and Life Sciences Directorate Special Professional Achievement Award (2002);
  • Lockheed Martin Technology Services "Lightning Award" (2002);
  • Honorary Doctor of Technology from Luleå University of Technology, Sweden (2020);[60]
  • Sir Charles Sherrington Prize Lecture & Medal (2021), University of Oxford;[61]
  • President's Lecture & Medal (2021), The Physiological Society of the United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland.[62]

References

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  1. ^ Kooyman, G. L.; Mastro, J.; Meir, J.U. (2023). Journeys with Emperors: Tracking the World's Most Extreme Penguin. University of Chicago Press. p. xiii. ISBN 978-0-226-82439-0. Retrieved November 1, 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g Ghert-Zand, Renee (June 1, 2018). "No Risk, No Reward Says Fearless Jewish Astronaut Jessica Meir". The Times of Israel. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  3. ^ Scott, Graham R.; Meir, Jessica Ulrika; Hawkes, Lucy A.; Frappell, Peter B.; Milsom, William K.; Llanos, Anibal J.; Ebensperger, German; Herrera, Emilio A.; Reyes, Roberto Victor; Moraga, Fernando A.; Parer, Julian T.; Giussani, Dino A. (July 1, 2011). "Point: Counterpoint "High Altitude is / is not for the Birds!"". Journal of Applied Physiology. 111 (5). American Physiological Society: 1514–1515. doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00821.2011. PMID 21737822.
  4. ^ a b Roberts, Jason. "2013 Astronaut Class". NASA. Archived from the original on June 21, 2013. Retrieved June 19, 2013.
  5. ^ Knight, Kathryn (May 12, 2011). "Penguins continue diving long after muscles run out of oxygen". Science Daily. Retrieved November 17, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Arnold, Carrie (April 15, 2011). "Sky's No Limit in High-Flying Goose Chase". U.S. News & World Report. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  7. ^ a b "Life Sciences Data Archive: Experiment". NASA. April 21, 2011. Archived from the original on March 22, 2012. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  8. ^ a b Sauro, Francesco; De Waele, Jo; Payler, Samuel J.; Vattano, Marco; Sauro, Francesco Maria; Turchi, Leonardo; Bessone, Loredana (July 1, 2021). "Speleology as an analogue to space exploration: The ESA CAVES training programme". Acta Astronautica. 184: 150–166. Bibcode:2021AcAau.184..150S. doi:10.1016/j.actaastro.2021.04.003. hdl:11585/819077. ISSN 0094-5765. S2CID 234819922.
  9. ^ Graham, Gillian (September 8, 2019). "Astronaut from Maine prepares for takeoff". Portland Press Herald. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  10. ^ "Astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir: The 100 Most Influential People of 2020". Time. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "Josef H Meir, MD and father of astronaut Jessica Meir - obituary". Documenting Maine Jewry. January 1, 2014. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  12. ^ a b "Josef Meir — OfficialUSA.com Records". www.officialusa.com. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  13. ^ Russell, Dave (September 26, 2019). "Sweden in space: Jessica Meir on achieving her lifelong dream". Sveriges Radio. Retrieved June 22, 2023.
  14. ^ a b Dolsten, Josefin (May 8, 2019). "Swedish-Israeli NASA astronaut Jessica Meir gets ready for space". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved June 21, 2023.
  15. ^ Burns, Christopher (April 17, 2019). "Astronaut from Aroostook County will soon go on her 1st spaceflight". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved May 9, 2019.
  16. ^ a b "Meet Jessica Meir". NASA Quest. Archived from the original on May 4, 2003. Retrieved October 20, 2019.
  17. ^ Kaplan, Sarah (April 28, 2015). "Journey to Mars: Meet NASA astronaut candidate Jessica Meir". Washington Post.
  18. ^ Smith, Tyler (November 2016). "Gravitational Pull". Brown Alumni Magazine. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  19. ^ a b c Meir, Jessica. ":: NASA Quest > Space :: Meet Jessica Meir". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Archived from the original on May 4, 2003. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  20. ^ a b Meir, Jessica Ulrika (2009). Blood oxygen transport and depletion: The key of consummate divers (Ph.D. thesis). University of California, San Diego. ISBN 978-1-109-31853-1. OCLC 449187875. ProQuest 304852089.
  21. ^ "Three I's of ISU Influential to 2013 NASA Astronaut Candidate Jessica Meir". International Space University. 2013. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved October 26, 2019.
  22. ^ Williams, CL; Meir, JU; Ponganis, PJ (June 1, 2011). "What triggers the aerobic dive limit? Patterns of muscle oxygen depletion during dives of emperor penguins". The Journal of Experimental Biology. 214 (11): 1802–1812. doi:10.1242/jeb.052233. PMC 3092726. PMID 21562166.
  23. ^ a b c d Kwok, Roberta (April 24, 2011). "Secrets of the world's extreme divers". Science News for Students. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  24. ^ Ponganis, Paul (May 19, 2008). "A Season at the Penguin Ranch in Antarctica". National Science Foundation. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  25. ^ Powell, Alvin (September 6, 2013). "Destination Space". The Harvard Gazette. Retrieved August 24, 2019.
  26. ^ a b c d Whiting, Melanie (September 25, 2019). "Jessica U. Meir (PH.D.) NASA Astronaut". Retrieved October 19, 2019.
  27. ^ Price, Mary Lynn. "Jessica Meir, Emperor Penguin Researcher in Antarctica". Women Working in Antarctica. Retrieved November 19, 2011.
  28. ^ "NEEMO History". NASA. March 21, 2006. Archived from the original on October 8, 2006. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  29. ^ Becker, Joachim Wilhelm Josef; Janssen, Heinz Hermann (March 27, 2010). "Biographies of Astronaut and Cosmonaut Candidates: Jessica Meir". Spacefacts. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
  30. ^ "NASA's Newest Astronauts Complete Training". NASA. July 9, 2015. Archived from the original on April 4, 2019. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  31. ^ "First cave expedition report – Caves & pangaea blog". Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  32. ^ "Jessica's CAVES birthday party – Caves & pangaea blog". Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  33. ^ "Video log of day 1 with Jessica Meir – Caves & pangaea blog". Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  34. ^ "Video log day 5 with Jessica Meir – Caves & pangaea blog". Retrieved May 26, 2021.
  35. ^ a b "Jessica U. Meir (Ph.D.) NASA Astronaut" (PDF). NASA. April 2022. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  36. ^ D'Aliesio, Renata (May 26, 2011). "Extreme trekkers, citizen scientists". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved December 10, 2012.
  37. ^ Northon, Karen (April 16, 2019). "NASA Announces First Flight, Record-Setting Mission". NASA.
  38. ^ "Final Soyuz-FG rocket delivers ISS crew". www.russianspaceweb.com.
  39. ^ "Soyuz MS-12 return to Earth". October 3, 2019.
  40. ^ "Expedition 60 – Space Station". NASA. October 3, 2019. Retrieved October 30, 2019.
  41. ^ a b "In-Space News Conference to Review First All-Woman Spacewalk". NASA (Press release). October 19, 2019.
  42. ^ "NASA to Televise First All-Female Spacewalk, Host Media Teleconference". NASA (Press release). October 18, 2019.
  43. ^ NASA Astronauts Spacewalk Outside the International Space Station on Oct. 18. NASA. October 18, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019 – via YouTube.
  44. ^ Garcia, Mark (October 18, 2019). "NASA TV is Live Now Broadcasting First All-Woman Spacewalk". NASA Blogs. Archived from the original on December 8, 2019. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  45. ^ Keeter, Bill (October 18, 2019). "ISS Daily Summary Report – 10/18/2019". NASA.
  46. ^ McFall-Johnsen, Morgan (October 18, 2019). "2 female astronauts politely corrected Trump midspacewalk after the president made a galling error". Business Insider. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  47. ^ "Russia conducts first Soyuz 2.1a human launch; MS-16 crew arrives at Station". April 8, 2020.
  48. ^ "Human Research, Crew Departure Preps aboard Busy Station – Space Station". blogs.nasa.gov. April 14, 2020.
  49. ^ Mundry, Jackie (April 13, 2020). "Maine astronauts host historic conversation from space". newscentermaine.com. News Center Maine. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  50. ^ "Some Good News from Space!" – via www.facebook.com.
  51. ^ "Astronauts return to Earth after watching coronavirus outbreak from space". The Independent. April 17, 2020. Archived from the original on June 8, 2022.
  52. ^ Garcia, Mark (April 17, 2020). "Touchdown! Expedition 62 Returns to Earth, Completes Station Mission – Space Station". blogs.nasa.gov. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
  53. ^ Näslund, Anne-Sofie (May 11, 2018). "Jessica blir första svenska kvinnan i rymden: 'Trodde det var kört'" [Jessica becomes the first Swedish woman in space: 'Thought it was over']. Expressen. Retrieved September 6, 2019.
  54. ^ "Astronauten Marcus Wandt blir näste svensk i rymden" (in Swedish). Government of Sweden. June 16, 2023. Retrieved December 31, 2023.
  55. ^ "Astronaut Jessica Meir took Stockholm University flag into space - Stockholm University".
  56. ^ a b "מת'א ועד הכוכבים: התמונות של ג'סיקה מאיר מהחלל". ynet. April 17, 2020.
  57. ^ "Jessica Meir on Instagram: "On #internationalwomensday let's celebrate what a @nasaastronauts looks like. We come in all shapes and sizes; mine changed considerably last year as I made the transition into motherhood. Though I had to step away from some training for a bit, fear not, my sights are still set on @nasaartemis @iss or whichever future mission beckons, to explore for her, and for all humankind. From the @nasa @nasaastronauts mothers who came before me, to performing artists and professional athletes, I'm inspired by the trailblazing women who continue to crush their careers while balancing a family. #womeninstem @badgalriri @serenawilliams @astrojaws @dukesurvives"". Instagram. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  58. ^ "Maine astronaut Jessica Meir announces birth of first child". newscentermaine.com. March 8, 2023. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  59. ^ "Duke George Brady". IMDb. Retrieved April 3, 2023.
  60. ^ "List of honorary doctors at Luleå University of Technology since 1981: Jessica Meir, Honorary Doctor of Technology 2020". LTU. Luleå University of Technology. November 11, 2020. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  61. ^ "Jessica Meir, Experimenting in microgravity: full circle for a scientist turned astronaut, 16 November 2021 in Oxford, UK".
  62. ^ "2021 President's Lecture and Award ceremony". The Physiological Society. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
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