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NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins

Jessica Watkins was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017. She served as the flight engineer onboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 67 and 68. Watkins is assigned to her second spaceflight, during which she will serve as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-13 mission and become a member of Expedition 75 aboard the International Space Station.

Quick Facts

The Colorado native earned a Bachelor of Science in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University, and a Doctorate in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

The Colorado native earned a Bachelor of Science in geological and environmental sciences from Stanford University, and a Doctorate in geology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

As a graduate research fellow at UCLA, Watkins studied Mars surface processes, focusing her Ph.D. research on the emplacement mechanisms of large landslides on Mars and Earth through orbital image and spectral data analysis, geologic mapping, and field work.

As a graduate research fellow at UCLA, Watkins studied Mars surface processes, focusing her Ph.D. research on the emplacement mechanisms of large landslides on Mars and Earth through orbital image and spectral data analysis, geologic mapping, and field work.

Dr. Watkins conducted her graduate research on the emplacement mechanisms of large landslides on Mars and Earth. She has worked at NASA’s Ames Research Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was a science team collaborator for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity.

Dr. Watkins conducted her graduate research on the emplacement mechanisms of large landslides on Mars and Earth. She has worked at NASA’s Ames Research Center and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and was a science team collaborator for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity.

In this image from June 24, 2022, NASA astronauts Jessica Watkins and Bob Hines used the International Space Station’s (ISS) Veggie facility to test soilless methods to grow plants. The space agricultural study could enable production of crops on a larger scale to sustain crews on future space explorations farther away from Earth and could enhance cultivation of plants in terrestrial settings such as greenhouses, contributing to better food security for people on Earth.

(6 June 2017) NASA portrait of 2017 Astronaut Candidate Jessica Watkins in front of a T-38 trainer aircraft at Ellington Field near NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. (Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz)

(7 March 2022) SpaceX Crew-4 Preflight (Credit: SpaceX)

(12 October 2022) Astronaut Jessica Watkins removes sample(s) from Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI), adds sample(s), and then inserts samples back into MELFI. (Credit: NASA)

(4 May 2022) Crew-3 Departure Change of Command Turtle Crew-4 (Credit: NASA)

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Biography

Jessica Watkins

Learn more about astronaut Jessica Watkins, including her flight experience, hobbies, education, background and more.

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(1 September 2021) Crew-4 astronaut Jessica Watkins in T-38 preflight operations. Location: Ellington Field – Hangar 276. (Credit: NASA/Robert Markowitz)

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