Contact: Sammy McDavid
Joan E. Higginbotham will discuss opportunities for becoming an astronaut during a public program Thursday [Oct. 8] at Mississippi State University.
As an astronaut herself, Higginbotham should be able to answer all questions about careers in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's most visible branch.
"So You Want To Be An Astronaut?" begins at 3:30 p.m. in the Bost Extension Center auditorium. The College of Arts and Sciences Colloquium Committee is the sponsor.
A 34-year-old Chicago native, Higginbotham holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Southern Illinois University. She also received master's degrees in management and space systems from the Florida Institute of Technology, where she was the 1997 distinguished alumna.
Higginbotham began her career in 1987 at the Kennedy Space Center as a payload electrical engineer in NASA's Electrical and Telecommunication Systems Division. Within six months, she was a leader for orbiter experiments on the Space Shuttle Columbia.
She held a series of progressive leadership positions until 1996, when she was selected as an astronaut candidate and assigned to the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.
Having completed two years of training and evaluation, Higginbotham now is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist.
For complete information on her address, telephone either Marianne Ulmer at (601) 325-8938 or Christopher Duncan at 325-2711.