Jessica Andrea Watkins (born May 14, 1988) is an American

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

astronaut, geologist, aquanaut and former international rugby player. Watkins was announced as the first Black woman who will complete an

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest Modular design, modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos ( ...

long-term mission in April 2022. On June 9, 2022, at 7:38 UTC, she became the African American woman with the most time in space, surpassing Stephanie Wilson's 42 day, 23 hour and 46 minute record.

Early life and education

Jessica "Watty"Astronaut slated to become first Black woman to stay long-term on space station
by Richard Tribou; published April 18, 2022; retrieved July 27, 2022 Watkins was born on May 14, 1988, in Gaithersburg, Maryland, to Michael and Carolyn Watkins. Her family moved to Lafayette, Colorado, where she graduated from Fairview High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in geological and environmental sciences at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

. There she was a member of the

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

team. After Stanford, Watkins earned a Ph.D. in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the Californ ...

. Her graduate research, under the supervision of professor An Yin, focused on emplacement mechanisms for landslides on Mars and Earth, including the effect of water activity. Prior to her selection as an astronaut candidate, Watkins was a postdoctoral fellow at the California Institute of Technology, where she was also an assistant coach to the women's basketball team.

Rugby career

Watkins began playing rugby during her freshman year at Stanford and remained on the team for four years. In 2008, during her sophomore year, she was a member of the Division I national champion team. In both 2008 and 2010, Watkins became a member of First Team Collegiate Rugby All-American. She is a former American women's national team rugby player for the sevens, and played for the

USA Eagles The United States men's national rugby union team represents the United States in men's international rugby union. Nicknamed the Eagles, it is controlled by USA Rugby, the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United Stat ...

in its 3rd-place finish at the

2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2009 Rugby Sevens World Cup was the fifth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The International Rugby Board (IRB) selected Dubai in the United Arab Emirates as the host venue for the tournament ahead of bids from four other countries. The f ...

. During the World Cup she was the leading try scorer for the US team.

NASA career

As an undergraduate, Watkins worked at the Ames Research Center to support the Mars Phoenix lander and prototype Mars drill testing. In 2009, she was chief geologist for the NASA Spaceward Bound Crew 86 at the Mars Desert Research Station. As a graduate student, she worked at the

Jet Propulsion Laboratory The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center and NASA field center in the City of La Cañada Flintridge, California, La Cañada Flintridge, California ...

on the NEOWISE project to survey near-Earth asteroids. Watkins also worked on planning for the Mars rover ''

Curiosity Curiosity (from Latin '' cūriōsitās'', from ''cūriōsus'' "careful, diligent, curious", akin to ''cura'' "care") is a quality related to inquisitive thinking such as exploration, investigation, and learning, evident by observation in human ...

''. In 2011, Watkins served as a science operations team member for an analog mission. She has served as a planner for the

Mars 2020 Mars 2020 is a Mars rover mission forming part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program that includes the rover '' Perseverance'', the small robotic, coaxial helicopter '' Ingenuity'', and associated delivery vehicles. Mars 2020 was launched from ...

rover and a Mars sample-return mission, and was a science team member for a Desert Research and Technology Studies analog mission. As a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech, and as a collaborator on the Mars Science Laboratory Science Team, she participated in daily planning of the Mars rover activities and uses its image data combined with orbital data to investigate the

stratigraphy Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers ( strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks. Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...

, and geomorphology of Mars. In June 2017, Watkins was selected as a member of

NASA Astronaut Group 22 NASA Astronaut Group 22 (nicknamed "The Turtles") is a group of twelve NASA astronauts selected in June 2017. They were joined by two Canadian Space Agency astronauts for training. History NASA announced the creation of this astronaut group i ...

and began her two-year training in August. In December 2020, she was selected to be a part of the

Artemis In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Artemis (; grc-gre, Ἄρτεμις) is the goddess of the hunt, the wilderness, wild animals, nature, vegetation, childbirth, care of children, and chastity. She was heavily identified with ...

Team to return humans to the Moon. The year 2025 is the target date for the crewed lunar landing mission. In November 2021, she became the 4th astronaut of Group 22, and first Black woman, to be assigned a long-duration mission to the

(ISS) after being chosen as the final member of SpaceX Crew-4, which launched in April 2022. It is Watkins’ first time in space. She is serving as a mission specialist for the six-month mission. Her role involves observing and photographing geological changes on Earth, as well as other investigations into Earth and space science, biological science, and the effects of long-duration spaceflight on humans.

NEEMO 23

Watkins participated in NEEMO mission 23 from June 10 to 22, 2019. This mission tested technologies and objectives for deep space mission and lunar explorations on the seafloor. Watkins’ NEEMO mission was the first of its kind to feature an all-female research team led by Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti.

Personal life

Watkins' parents live in Lafayette, Colorado. Her hobbies include soccer, rock climbing, skiing, and creative writing.

Awards and honors

Watkins has received numerous awards for her career, academic, and athletic accomplishments, including: * Jessica Watkins Day, April 19, 2022, City of Lafayette, Colorado * Stanford Earth Early- to Mid- Career Alumni Award, 2018 *

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences Chair's Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2015 * Postdoctoral Fellowship, California Alliance for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP), 2015 * NASA Group Achievement Award, Mars Science Laboratory Prime Mission Science and Operations Team, 2015 * Harold and Mayla Sullwold Scholarship for Academic Excellence and Outstanding Original Research,

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Department of Earth and Space Sciences, 2012 * Graduate Research Fellowship in Geosciences,

National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National ...

, 2012 * Diversity in the Geosciences Minority Research Grant Award,

Geological Society of America The Geological Society of America (GSA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the geosciences. History The society was founded in Ithaca, New York, in 1888 by Alexander Winchell, John J. Stevenson, Charles H. Hitch ...

, 2011 * Chancellor's Prize,

, 2010 * California Space Grant Consortium Fellowship, 2010 * Division I College Rugby National Champion, Stanford Women's Rugby, 2008 * USA Rugby Collegiate All-American, 2008-2010 * Women's Sevens Rugby World Cup Semi-finalist, USA Eagles, 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watkins, Jessica 1988 births 21st-century American geologists 21st-century American women scientists American astronauts American female rugby sevens players American female rugby union players American women geologists California Institute of Technology people Female rugby sevens players Living people People from Gaithersburg, Maryland People from Lafayette, Colorado Planetary scientists Scientists from Colorado Scientists from Maryland SpaceX astronauts Stanford University alumni UCLA Department of Earth Planetary and Space Sciences alumni United States international rugby sevens players University of California, Los Angeles alumni Women astronauts Women planetary scientists California Institute of Technology fellows