K. Megan McArthur

Last updated

Megan McArthur
Meganmcarthurv2.jpg
McArthur in December 2007
Born (1971-08-30) August 30, 1971 (age 52)
Education University of California, Los Angeles (BS)
University of California, San Diego (MS, PhD)
Spouse Bob Behnken
Space career
NASA astronaut
Time in space
212d 15h 21m
Selection NASA Group 18 (2000)
Missions STS-125
SpaceX Crew-2 (Expedition 65/66)
Mission insignia
STS-125 patch.svg SpaceX Crew-2 logo.png ISS Expedition 65 Patch.png ISS Expedition 66 Patch.svg

Katherine Megan McArthur (born August 30, 1971) is an American oceanographer, engineer, and NASA astronaut. She has served as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) for both the Space Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS). Megan McArthur has flown one Space Shuttle mission, STS-125 and one SpaceX mission, SpaceX Crew-2 on Crew Dragon Endeavour. She is known as the last person to be hands on with the Hubble Space Telescope via the Canadarm. McArthur has served in a number of positions including working in the Shuttle Avionics Laboratory (SAIL). She is married to fellow astronaut Robert L. Behnken. [1]

Contents

Early life

McArthur was born in Honolulu, Hawaii but grew up in California. [2] [3] She attended London Central High School and graduated from St. Francis High School in Mountain View, California, then later earned a B.S. degree in aerospace engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles in 1993. In 2002, she was awarded a Ph.D. in oceanography from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. [2]

Oceanography career

At the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, McArthur conducted graduate research in nearshore underwater acoustic propagation and digital signal processing. [2] Her research focused on determining geoacoustic models to describe very shallow water waveguides using measured transmission loss data in a genetic algorithm inversion technique. She served as chief scientist during at-sea data collection operations and has planned and led diving operations during sea-floor instrument deployments and sediment-sample collections. While at Scripps, she participated in a range of in-water instrument testing, deployment, maintenance, and recovery, and collection of marine plants, animals, and sediment. During this time, McArthur also volunteered at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, conducting educational demonstrations for the public from inside a 70,000-gallon (265 m³) exhibit tank of the California Kelp Forest.

NASA career

Selected as a mission specialist by NASA in July 2000, McArthur reported for training in August 2000. [2] She trained at the Sonny Carter Training Facility. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, she was assigned to the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch working technical issues on shuttle systems in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). McArthur then served as the crew support astronaut for the Expedition 9 crew during their six-month mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS). She also worked in the Space Station and Space Shuttle Mission Control Centers as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM). In 2006, McArthur was the CAPCOM for STS-116. She was also the EVA capcom for the STS-117 mission in 2007.

STS-125

McArthur, STS-125 mission specialist, works the controls of the remote manipulator system (RMS) on the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis during flight day eight activities. STS-125 Megan McArthur works with the controls of the remote manipulator system.jpg
McArthur, STS-125 mission specialist, works the controls of the remote manipulator system (RMS) on the aft flight deck of the Earth-orbiting Space Shuttle Atlantis during flight day eight activities.

In 2009, Megan McArthur was a member of the STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. McArthur was the ascent and entry flight engineer and was the lead robotics crew member for the mission. The mission which lasted almost 13 days [2] was McArthur's first trip into space. In a pre-flight interview, she put it as: "I'll be the last one with hands on the Hubble Space Telescope." [4]

In 2019, McArthur was appointed Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office.

Expedition 65/66

In July 2020, NASA announced that McArthur would fly into space for the second time on SpaceX Crew-2, along with NASA astronaut Shane Kimbrough, JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, and ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet. [5] [6] [7] She used the same seat inside the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule Endeavour which her husband, Bob Behnken used in SpaceX Demo-2, the first mission of the Endeavour capsule. [8]

Crew-2 launched and docked with the ISS in April 2021, beginning their 6 month mission. It splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico in November 2021.

Awards and honours

McArthur bids farewell to the media after arriving at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center ahead of SpaceX's Crew-2 mission SpaceX Crew-2 Crew Arrival (NHQ202104160043).jpg
McArthur bids farewell to the media after arriving at the Launch and Landing Facility at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center ahead of SpaceX’s Crew-2 mission

In 2022, SpaceX's Dragon support vessel GO Searcher was renamed Megan along with GO Navigator as Shannon after SpaceX Crew-1 astronaut, Shannon Walker. A SpaceX fairing recovery/droneship support vessel was named after her husband as Bob in 2021. In 2021, McArthur was selected as a Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst. [9]

Personal life

McArthur is married to fellow astronaut Bob Behnken, and they have one son. [10]

She appeared as an animated version of herself in seasons 4 and 7 of Blaze and the Monster Machines .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Space Shuttle program</span> 1972–2011 United States human spaceflight program

The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS), taken from a 1969 plan for a system of reusable spacecraft where it was the only item funded for development, as a proposed nuclear shuttle in the plan was cancelled in 1972. It flew 135 missions and carried 355 astronauts from 16 countries, many on multiple trips.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandra Magnus</span> American astronaut and engineer (born 1964)

Sandra Hall Magnus is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. She flew to space three times, as mission specialist on STS-112, as ISS crewmember during Expedition 18 and as mission specialist on STS-135. She is also a licensed amateur radio operator with the call sign KE5FYE. From 2012 until 2018 Magnus was the executive director of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shane Kimbrough</span> American astronaut

Robert Shane Kimbrough is a retired United States Army officer and NASA astronaut. He was part of the first group of candidates selected for NASA astronaut training following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. Kimbrough is a veteran of three spaceflights, the first being a Space Shuttle flight, and the second being a six-month mission to the ISS on board a Russian Soyuz craft. He was the commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 50, and returned to Earth in April 2017. He is married to the former Robbie Lynn Nickels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soichi Noguchi</span> Japanese astronaut and engineer (born 1965)

Soichi Noguchi is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and former JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster. He was also in space as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on 2 June 2010. He is the sixth Japanese astronaut to fly in space, the fifth to fly on the Space Shuttle, and the first to fly on Crew Dragon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shannon Walker</span> American scientist and NASA astronaut

Shannon Walker is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut selected in 2004. She launched on her first mission into space on June 25, 2010, onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and spent over 163 days in space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akihiko Hoshide</span> Japanese astronaut and engineer (born 1968)

Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer, JAXA astronaut, and former commander of the International Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bob Behnken</span> US Air Force officer, NASA astronaut and former Chief of the Astronaut Office (born 1970)

Robert Louis Behnken is an American engineer, a former NASA astronaut, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Hurley</span> Former NASA astronaut (born 1966)

Douglas Gerald Hurley is an American engineer, former Marine Corps pilot and former NASA astronaut. He piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-127 and STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle program. He launched into space for the third time as commander of Crew Dragon Demo-2, the first crewed spaceflight from American soil since STS-135 and became, together with Bob Behnken, the first astronaut in history launching aboard a commercial orbital spacecraft. He was also the first Marine to fly the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet. His call sign is "Chunky", and he was sometimes referred to by this name on the communication loops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Pesquet</span> French aerospace engineer, pilot, and astronaut (born 1978)

Thomas Gautier Pesquet is a French aerospace engineer, pilot, European Space Agency astronaut, actor and writer. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed his basic training in November 2010. From November 2016 to June 2017, Pesquet was part of Expedition 50 and Expedition 51 as a flight engineer. Pesquet returned to space in April 2021 on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon for a second six-month stay on the ISS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SpaceX Dragon 2</span> 2020s class of partially reusable spacecraft

Dragon 2 is a class of partially reusable spacecraft developed, manufactured, and operated by American space company SpaceX, for flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and private spaceflight missions. There are two variants of the Dragon spacecraft: Crew Dragon, capable of ferrying four crewmembers, and Cargo Dragon, a replacement for the original Dragon 1 used to carry freight to and from space. The spacecraft consists of a reusable space capsule and an expendable trunk module. The spacecraft launches atop a Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket and the capsule returns to Earth through splashdown. It has proven to be the most cost effective spacecraft in history to be used by NASA.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crew Dragon Demo-2</span> First crewed flight of Crew Dragon

Crew Dragon Demo-2 was the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The spacecraft, named Endeavour, launched on 30 May 2020 on a Falcon 9 rocket, and carried NASA astronauts Douglas Hurley and Robert Behnken to the International Space Station in the first crewed orbital spaceflight launched from the United States since the final Space Shuttle mission in 2011, and the first ever operated by a commercial provider. Demo-2 was also the first two-person orbital spaceflight launched from the United States since STS-4 in 1982. Demo-2 completed the validation of crewed spaceflight operations using SpaceX hardware and received human-rating certification for the spacecraft, including astronaut testing of Crew Dragon capabilities on orbit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expedition 65</span> 65th Long-duration mission to the International Space Station

Expedition 65 was the 65th long duration expedition to the International Space Station. The mission began on 17 April 2021 with the departure of Soyuz MS-17 and was initially commanded by NASA astronaut Shannon Walker serving as the third female ISS commander, who launched in November 2020 aboard SpaceX Crew-1 alongside NASA astronauts Michael S. Hopkins and Victor J. Glover, as well as JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi. They were joined by the crew of Soyuz MS-18, which is made up of Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Pyotr Dubrov, as well as NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hei.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Launch America</span> Public-private partnership associated with the United States return to human spaceflight

Launch America is a public–private partnership between the United States and multiple space companies, closely related to NASA's Commercial Crew Program. The term "Launch America" was used as early as May 2016. The initiative aims to end NASA's reliance on Roscosmos by developing launch systems that can carry crews to space from American soil.

<i>Megan</i> (ship) SpaceX Dragon Recovery Vessel

MV Megan, formerly known as MV GO Searcher, is one of SpaceX's two Dragon capsule recovery vessels. Owned by SpaceX through Falcon Landing LLC, this vessel, along with its sister ship, MV Shannon, are converted platform supply vessels now equipped to retrieve Crew and Cargo Dragon capsules after splashdown.

Crew Dragon <i>Endeavour</i> SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft

Crew Dragon Endeavour is a Crew Dragon space capsule manufactured and operated by SpaceX and used by NASA's Commercial Crew Program. As of 2024 it has successfully completed four crewed missions to the International Space Station (ISS), and is currently conducting a fifth. It was first launched into orbit atop a Falcon 9 rocket on 30 May 2020 and successfully docked to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission. This was the first crewed flight test of a Dragon capsule, carrying Doug Hurley and Bob Behnken on first crewed orbital spaceflight from the United States since STS-135 in July 2011 and the first crewed orbital spaceflight by a private company. On 2 August 2020 it returned to Earth. The spacecraft was named by Hurley and Behnken after the Space ShuttleEndeavour, aboard which they first flew into space during the STS-127 and STS-123 missions, respectively. The name Endeavour is also shared by the command module of Apollo 15. The spacecraft's second mission, Crew-2, ended 8 November 2021 after having spent almost 200 days in orbit. Crew Dragon Endeavour set the record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. crew vehicle previously set by her sibling Crew Dragon Resilience on 2 May 2021. Collectively, Endeavour has spent over 450 days in orbit, the most time in orbit by a crewed spacecraft, surpassing Space Shuttle Discovery.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SpaceX Crew-2</span> 2021 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS

SpaceX Crew-2 was the second operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission was launched on 23 April 2021 at 09:49:02 UTC, and docked to the International Space Station on 24 April at 09:08 UTC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Expedition 66</span> Long-duration mission to the International Space Station

Expedition 66 was the 66th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The mission began after the departure of Soyuz MS-18 on 17 October 2021. It was commanded by European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Pesquet, the fourth European astronaut and first French astronaut to command the ISS until 8 November 2021 when Russian cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, who arrived aboard Soyuz MS-19, took over his command.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SpaceX Crew-3</span> 2021 American crewed spaceflight to the ISS and maiden flight of Crew Dragon Endurance

SpaceX Crew-3 was the Crew Dragon's third NASA Commercial Crew operational flight, and its fifth overall crewed orbital flight. The mission successfully launched on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31 UTC to the International Space Station. It was the maiden flight of Crew Dragon Endurance.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration .

  1. "Astronauts eager for last Hubble visit: Final telescope servicing mission brings veterans and rookies together". NBC News. May 4, 2009. Archived from the original on May 28, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Whiting, Melanie (March 2, 2016). "Megan McArthur (PH.D.) NASA Astronaut". NASA. Retrieved March 10, 2020.
  3. "Meet Megan McArthur, Crew-2 Pilot". YouTube . NASA. April 23, 2021. Archived from the original on November 11, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2021.
  4. "Last Hubble telescope repair involves genius of two South Bay women". San Jose Mercury News . May 8, 2009.
  5. "JAXA星出彰彦宇宙飛行士の国際宇宙ステーション(ISS)長期滞在 搭乗機決定について". JAXA. July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  6. "Thomas Pesquet first ESA astronaut to ride a Dragon to space". ESA Science & Exploration. July 28, 2020.
  7. Potter, Sean (July 28, 2020). "NASA Announces Astronauts to Fly on SpaceX Crew-2 Mission to Space Station". NASA. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  8. "Megan to reuse Bob's demo-2 seat in crew-2 mission". aljazeera.com. April 20, 2020.
  9. "The 2021 Bloomberg New Economy Catalyst List". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved July 20, 2023.
  10. "Astronaut Bob Behnken will be one of two-person crew on Crew Dragon Demo-2 launch". SpaceFlight Insider. May 6, 2020. Retrieved May 20, 2020.