Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor installs samples for the Microgravity Investigation of Cement Solidification (MICS) experiment aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in this image from Nov. 27, 2018. MICS explored how cement solidified in microgravity, important research for constructing safe space habitats on the Moon or Mars and for improving cement processing on Earth.
Dr. Auñón-Chancellor was selected in July 2009 as one of 14 members of the 20th NASA astronaut class. During Astronaut Candidate Training, she spent 2 months in Antarctica from 2010 to 2011 searching for meteorites as part of the Antarctic Search for Meteorites expedition. Most of that time was spent living on the ice 200 nautical miles from the South Pole.
Her first flight was to the ISS, where she logged 197 days in space as the flight engineer of Expedition 56 and 57. The Expedition 56 and 57 crews contributed to hundreds of experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science aboard the ISS.
Throughout National Hispanic Heritage Month, we’re celebrating the contributions of the brilliant Hispanic people of NASA.
Image credit: NASA