Parkrose grad takes over as commander of 45th Space Wing (continued)
Helms was commissioned from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1980. She has served as an F-15 and F-16 weapons separation engineer, a flight test engineer and project officer on the CF-18 aircraft as a U.S. Air Force exchange officer to the Canadian Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment, and an astronaut. As a flight test engineer, Helms has flown in 30 types of U.S. and Canadian military aircraft.
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Helms became an astronaut in July 1991. She flew on STS-54 (1993), STS-64 (1994), STS-78 (1996), STS-101 (2000) and served aboard the International Space Station as a member of the Expedition-2 crew (2001). A veteran of five space flights, Helms has logged 211 days in space, including a world record space walk of eight hours and 56 minutes.
A promotion ceremony for Helms was held in the base theater just prior to the change of command ceremony.
In his opening remarks, Shelton lauded the leadership and professionalism of Owen, then presented the Legion of Merit medal as well as the 2006 Air Force Space Command’s Gen. Jerome F. O’Malley Award to Owen and his wife, Sharon.
Not wasting any time, Helms then challenged her new charges. “Now, let’s go launch a rocket!” she said, referencing Wednesday’s launch of the MiTEX payload aboard a Delta II.
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1976 Parkrose Senior High School graduate Susan J. Helms, now an Air Force Brigadier General. GO BRONCOS!
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| MEMO PHOTO: TIM CURRAN |
PERSONAL DATA
Born February 26, 1958 in Charlotte, N.C., but considers Portland, Ore., to be her hometown. She enjoys piano and other musical activities, jogging, traveling, reading, computers and cooking. Parents: Lt. Col. (Ret., USAF) Pat and Dori Helms, reside in Albuquerque, N.M.. Susan has three sisters.
EDUCATION
1976: Graduated from Parkrose Senior High School, Portland, Ore.
1980: Received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy
1985: Received a master of science degree in aeronautics/astronautics from Stanford University
ORGANIZATIONS
• Women Military Aviators
• U.S. Air Force Academy Association of Graduates
• Stanford Alumni Association
• Association of Space Explorers
• Sea/Space Symposium
• Chi Omega Sorority
SPECIAL HONORS
• Distinguished Superior Service Medal
• Defense Meritorious Service Medal
• Air Force Meritorious Service Medal
• Air Force Commendation Medal
• NASA Distinguished Service Medal
• NASA Space Flight Medals
• NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal
• Named a Distinguished Graduate of the USAF Test Pilot School
• Recipient of the R.L. Jones Award for Outstanding Flight Test Engineer, Class 88A
• 1990 recipient of the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment Commanding Officer’s Commendation, a special award unique to the Canadian Forces
• Named the 1983 Air Force Armament Laboratory Junior Engineer of the Year
SPACE FLIGHT EXPEREINCE
STS-54 (Space Transportation System or Space Shuttle) Endeavour, January 13-19, 1993. The primary objective of this mission was the deployment of a $200 million NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. A Diffuse X-Ray Spectrometer, carried in the payload bay, collected over 80,000 seconds of quality X-ray data that will enable investigators to answer questions about the origin of the Milky Way galaxy. The crew demonstrated the physics principles of everyday toys to an interactive audience of elementary school students across the United States. A highly successful Extravehicular Activity resulted in many lessons learned that will benefit Space Station Freedom assembly. Mission duration was 5 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 17 seconds.
STS-64 Discovery, September 9-20, 1994. On this flight, Helms served as the flight engineer for orbiter operations and the primary RMS operator aboard the space shuttle. The major objective of this flight was to validate the design and operating characteristics of Lidar in Space Technology Experiment by gathering data about the Earth’s troposphere and stratosphere. Additional objectives included the deployment and retrieval of SPARTAN-201, a free-flying satellite that investigated the physics of the solar corona, and the testing of a new EVA maneuvering device. The Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment was used to collect extensive data on the effects of jet thruster impingement, in preparation for proximity tasks such as space station docking. Mission duration was 10 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes.
STS-78 Columbia, June 20-July 7, 1996. Helms was the payload commander and flight engineer aboard Columbia, on the longest space shuttle mission to date. The mission included studies sponsored by ten nations and five space agencies and was the first mission to combine both a full microgravity studies agenda and a comprehensive life science investigation. The Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission served as a model for future studies on board the International Space Station. Mission duration was 16 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes.
STS-101 Atlantis, May 19-29, 2000, was a mission dedicated to the delivery and repair of critical hardware for the International Space Station. Helms’s prime responsibilities during this mission were to perform critical repairs to extend the life of the Functional Cargo Block. In addition, she had prime responsibility of the onboard computer network and served as the mission specialist for rendezvous with the ISS. Mission duration was 9 days, 20 hours, 9 minutes.
Helms lived and worked onboard the International Space Station as a member of the second crew to inhabit the International Space Station Alpha. The Expedition-2 crew (two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut) launched on March 8, 2001, onboard STS-102 Discovery and successfully docked with the station on March 9, 2001. The Expedition-2 crew installed and conducted tests on the Canadian-made Space Station robotic arm, conducted internal and external maintenance tasks (Russian and American), in addition to medical and science experiments. During her stay onboard the space station, Helms installed the Airlock (brought up on the STS-104 mission) using the SSRM. She and her crewmates also performed a ‘fly around’ of the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and welcomed the visiting Soyuz crew that included the first space tourist. On March 11, Helms performed a world record eight hour and 56 minute space walk to install hardware to the external body of the laboratory module. She spent a total of 163 days aboard the space station. She returned to Earth with the STS-105 crew aboard Discovery on August 22, 2001.
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