Wendy Lawrence Class of 1981 Astronaut

She earned a B.S. in ocean engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981 and an M.S. in ocean engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in 1988. She was a distinguished flight school graduate and was designated a naval aviator in 1982. She was one of the first two female helicopter pilots to make a long deployment to the Indian Ocean as part of a carrier battle group. She reported to the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990 where she served as a physics instructor and novice women’s crew coach.

Selected by NASA in March 1992, Lawrence reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. She completed one year of training and is qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle missions. In September 1996 she began training for a 4-month mission on the Russian Space Station Mir. Because of her knowledge and experience with Mir systems and with crew transfer logistics for the Mir, she flew with the crew of STS-86 (September 25 to October 6, 1997). A veteran of three space flights, she has logged 894 hours in space.