NASA Astronaut Loral O’Hara

O’Hara was a Research Engineer at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, where she spent eight years working on the engineering and operations of underwater vehicles.

The Texas native earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Kansas and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Purdue University.

Though all NASA astronauts live and work in the Houston area, O’Hara is only the second Houston native to travel to space.