NAME: Joan E. Higginbotham
NASA Astronaut
PERSONAL
DATA: Born in
Chicago, Illinois. She enjoys body building (weightlifting), cycling, music,
motivational speaking.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Whitney M. Young
Magnet High School, Chicago, Illinois, in 1982; received a Bachelor of Science
degree in Electrical Engineering from Southern Illinois University at
Carbondale, in 1987, a Masters of Management from Florida Institute of
Technology in 1992, and a Masters in Space Systems from Florida Institute of
Technology in 1996.
ORGANIZATIONS: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.,
The Gulf Coast Apollo Chapter of the Links, Inc.
AWARDS: NASA
Exceptional Service Medal; Keys to the Cities of Cocoa and Rockledge, Florida;
Group Achievement Award for STS-26
Return to Flight; Kennedy Space Center Public Affairs Certificate of
Appreciation for Service; Commendation of Merit for Service to the Department
of Defense (DOD) Missions; Presidential Sports Award in bicycling and weight
training; Outstanding Woman of the Year Award; Outstanding Performance 1992,
1993, 1995; National Technical Association's 50 Distinguished Scientists and
Engineers; Florida Institute of Technology's Distinguished Alumni for 1997;
Southern Illinois University's Distinguished Alumni; Essence Magazine's Top 50
Women of 2004.
NASA
EXPERIENCE: Joan
Higginbotham began her career in 1987 at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC),
Florida, as a Payload Electrical Engineer in the Electrical and
Telecommunications Systems Division.
Within six
months she became the lead for the Orbiter Experiments (OEX) on OV-102, the space
shuttle Columbia. She later worked on the shuttle payload bay
reconfiguration for all shuttle missions and conducted electrical compatibility
tests for all payloads flown aboard the shuttle.
She was
also tasked by KSC management to undertake several special assignments where
she served as the Executive Staff Assistant to the Director of Shuttle
Operations and Management, led a team of engineers in performing critical
analysis for the space shuttle flow in support of a simulation model tool, and
worked on an interactive display detailing space shuttle processing procedures
at Spaceport USA (Kennedy Space Center's Visitors Center).
Higginbotham
then served as backup orbiter project engineer for OV-104, space shuttle Atlantis,
where she participated in the integration of the orbiter docking station (ODS)
into the space shuttle used during Shuttle/Mir
docking missions. Two years later, she was promoted to lead orbiter project
engineer for OV-102, Space Shuttle Columbia. In this position, she held the
technical lead government engineering position in the firing room where she
supported and managed the integration of vehicle testing and troubleshooting.
She actively participated in 53 space shuttle launches during her 9-year tenure
at Kennedy Space Center.
Selected as
an astronaut candidate by NASA in
April 1996, Joan Higginbotham reported to the Johnson Space Center in August
1996.
Since that
time, she had been assigned technical duties in the Payloads & Habitability
Branch, the Shuttle Avionics & Integration Laboratory (SAIL), and the
Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Operations (Ops) Support Branch, where she tested
various modules of the International Space Station for operability,
compatibility, and functionality prior to launch.
She worked
in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) Branch in the startup and
support of numerous space station missions and space shuttle missions. She was
also assigned to the Robotics Branch. Her last assignment was as the Lead for
the International
Space Station Systems Crew Interfaces Section. Joan is assigned to the crew
of STS-116
where her primary task will be to operate the Space Station Remote Manipulator
System (SSRMS).
Last
updated: June 2006
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