Ellen Louise Shulman Baker,

M.D. Doctor of Medicine (abbreviated M.D., from the Latin ''Medicinae Doctor'') is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, and some other countries, the M.D. denotes a professional degree. ...

, M.P.H. (born April 27, 1953) is an American

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

and a former

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. Baker is a veteran of three shuttle flights and logged more than 686 hours in space. Baker served as Chief of the Education/Medical Branch of the NASA Astronaut Office until her retirement in 2011 after more than 30 years of service to NASA.

Family

The daughter of physician Mel and politician Claire Shulman, she was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. She is married to Kenneth J. Baker. They have two daughters: Karen Sarah and Meredith Claire.

Education

Baker graduated from: * Bayside High School in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

in 1970. *

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo, commonly called the University at Buffalo (UB) and sometimes called SUNY Buffalo, is a public research university with campuses in Buffalo and Amherst, New York. The university was founded in 18 ...

, Bachelor of Arts degree in

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

in 1974 *

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to tea ...

, doctorate in medicine in 1978 *

University of Texas School of Public Health The UTHealth School of Public Health is one of six component institutions of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. The Texas Legislature authorized the creation of a school of public health in 1947, but did not appropriate fun ...

, Master's Degree in Public Health in 1994

Medical career

After completing medical school, Baker trained in internal medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center,

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

. In 1981, after three years of residency training in internal medicine, she was certified by the

American Board of Internal Medicine The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, self-appointed physician-evaluation organization that certifies physicians practicing internal medicine and its subspecialties. The American Board of Internal Medicine is n ...

NASA career

In 1981, following her parents, Baker joined NASA as a medical officer at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. That same year, she graduated from the Air Force Aerospace Medicine Course at

Brooks Air Force Base Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas, southeast of Downtown San Antonio. In 2002, Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Developm ...

. Prior to her selection as an astronaut candidate, she served as a physician in the Flight Medicine Clinic at the Johnson Space Center. Selected by NASA in May 1984, Baker became an astronaut in June 1985. Since then, she has had a variety of jobs at NASA in support of the

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

program and Space Station development. She was a mission specialist on STS-34 in 1989, STS-50 in 1992, and STS-71 in 1995 and has logged over 686 hours in space. She then served as Chief of the Astronaut Office Education/Medical Branch.

Spaceflight experience

STS-71 Ellen Baker dons launch-entry suit (KSC-95EC-0907)

STS-34 ''Atlantis'' (October 18–23, 1989) launched from the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. During the mission, the crew deployed the

Galileo probe ''Galileo'' was an American robotic space probe that studied the planet Jupiter and its moons, as well as the asteroids Gaspra and Ida. Named after the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei, it consisted of an orbiter and an entry probe. It was ...

to explore

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a mass more than two and a half times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined, but slightly less than one-thousandth t ...

, operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV) to map atmospheric

ozone Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...

, conducted several medical experiments, and numerous scientific experiments. Mission objectives were accomplished in 79 orbits of the Earth, traveling 1.8 million miles in 119 hours and 41 minutes. STS-50 ''Columbia'' (June 25, 1992 – July 9, 1992) launched and landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-50 was the first flight of the United States Microgravity Laboratory and the first Extended Duration Orbiter flight. Over a two-week period, the crew conducted scientific experiments involving crystal growth, fluid physics, fluid dynamics, biological science, and combustion science. Mission objectives were accomplished in 221 orbits of the Earth, traveling 5.7 million miles in 331 hours 30 seconds and 4 minutes in space. STS-71 ''Atlantis'' (June 27 – July 7, 1995) launched from the Kennedy Space Center with a seven-member crew and returned there with an eight-member crew. STS-71 was the first Space Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian Space Station ''

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

'', and involved an exchange of crews. The ''Atlantis'' Space Shuttle was modified to carry a docking system compatible with the Russian Mir Space Station. It also carried a

Spacelab Spacelab was a reusable laboratory developed by European Space Agency (ESA) and used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory comprised multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier, ...

module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections. Mission accomplished in 153 orbits of the Earth, traveling 4.1 million miles in 235 hours and 23 minutes.

References

External links

Ellen Baker's NASA biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Ellen S. 1953 births Living people 20th-century American Jews Women astronauts Weill Cornell Medical College alumni People from Fayetteville, North Carolina University at Buffalo alumni Physician astronauts Physicians from North Carolina People from Bayside, Queens NASA civilian astronauts University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston alumni Bayside High School (Queens) alumni Space Shuttle program astronauts Jewish physicians 20th-century American women physicians 20th-century American physicians 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians Mir crew members 21st-century American Jews