Kayla Jane Barron (born September 19, 1987) is an American submarine warfare officer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the limit ...

and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

astronaut. Barron was selected in June 2017 as a member of the NASA Astronaut Group 22, and later qualified as an astronaut in 2020. Barron took part in her first spaceflight,

SpaceX Crew-3 SpaceX Crew-3 was the fourth operational flight of a Crew Dragon spacecraft, and the third overall crewed orbital flight of the Commercial Crew Program. The mission successfully launched on 11 November 2021 at 02:03:31 UTC to the International ...

, as part of the crew of

Expedition 66 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 Euro ...

/ 67, which launched to the

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

on November 10, 2021. Before joining NASA, Barron was a submarine warfare officer and Flag Aide to the Superintendent at the Naval Academy.

Early life and education

Kayla Barron was born on September 19, 1987, in Pocatello, Idaho, to Lauri and Scott Sax. Her family moved to

Richland, Washington Richland () is a city in Benton County, Washington, United States. It is located in southeastern Washington at the confluence of the Yakima and the Columbia Rivers. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 60,560. Along with the nearby c ...

, where she graduated from Richland High School in 2006. After high school, Barron attended the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

, where she graduated in 2010 with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in systems engineering. While at the Naval Academy, Barron was a member of the Midshipmen cross country and track teams. Following her graduation, Barron attended

Peterhouse Peterhouse is the oldest constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Today, Peterhouse has 254 undergraduates, 116 full-time graduate students and 54 fellows. It is quite o ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

on a

Gates Cambridge Scholarship The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation established the Gates Cambridge Scholarships in 2000 with a $210 million donation to support outstanding graduate students' study at the University of Cambridge. The scholarship is one of the most competitiv ...

; she received here a

Master of Philosophy The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

degree in nuclear engineering in 2011. Motivated by a desire to address anthropogenic climate change, her graduate research focused on modeling the fuel cycle for a next-generation,

thorium Thorium is a weakly radioactive metallic chemical element with the symbol Th and atomic number 90. Thorium is silvery and tarnishes black when it is exposed to air, forming thorium dioxide; it is moderately soft and malleable and has a high ...

-fueled nuclear reactor concept known as an accelerator-driven subcritical reactor.

Military career

After obtaining a master's degree, Barron was part of the first group of women to become submarine warfare officers. She attended the Navy's nuclear power and submarine officer training program, and was assigned to the Ohio-class submarine USS ''Maine''. While serving on the USS ''Maine'', Barron completed three patrols as a division officer. Following her submarine assignment, Barron was Flag Aide to the Superintendent at the Naval Academy until her selection as an astronaut.

NASA career

In June 2017, Barron was selected as a member of NASA Astronaut Group 22, and began her two-year training. She was the fifth female Naval Academy graduate selected as an astronaut candidate. She trained for the

mission, during which she worked aboard the

as a mission specialist. She launched on board the SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule ''Endurance'' on November 10, 2021, and served as part of the

Expedition 67 Expedition 67 was the 67th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The expedition began upon the departure of Soyuz MS-19 on 30 March 2022, with NASA astronaut Thomas Marshburn taking over as ISS commander. Initially, the e ...

long duration mission. Crew-3 landed in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United ...

on May 6, 2022, after 176 days in space.

Personal life

Barron is married to Tom Barron, a

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Special Forces officer. She enjoys hiking, backpacking, running, and reading.

Amateur radio

Barron received a Technician Class amateur radio license from the FCC on September 21, 2020. Her call sign is KI5LAL.

Honors

Barron was a Trident Scholar and Distinguished Graduate at the Naval Academy, and a Gates Cambridge Scholar at Cambridge.

Awards

Warfare insignia

Decorations and medals

NASA Astronaut Pin

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barron, Kayla 1987 births Living people United States Navy astronauts People from Pocatello, Idaho Female United States Navy officers Women astronauts Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge Military personnel from Idaho People from Richland, Washington Navy Midshipmen women's track and field athletes Navy Midshipmen women's cross country runners United States Naval Academy alumni SpaceX astronauts Spacewalkers