Serena Maria Auñón-Chancellor (born April 9, 1976) is an American

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, and

NASA astronaut The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...

. She visited the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

(ISS) during Expedition 56/ 57. After returning, she transitioned to a management role within NASA, where she handles medical issues aboard the station.

Education

Auñón-Chancellor attended Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. She holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

, an

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

from the

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston) is a public academic health science center in Houston, Texas, United States. It was created in 1972 by The University of Texas System Board of Regents. It is located ...

(UTHealth) in 2001, and an M.P.H. degree from the

University of Texas Medical Branch The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) is a Public university, public Academic health science centre, academic health science center in Galveston, Texas, United States. It is part of the University of Texas System. UTMB includes the olde ...

(UTMB) in 2006. She completed a three-year residency in internal medicine at UTMB in Galveston, Texas, in 2004, and then completed an additional year as Chief Resident. She also completed an

aerospace medicine Aviation medicine, also called flight medicine or aerospace medicine, is a preventive medicine, preventive or occupational medicine in which the patients/subjects are pilots, aircrews, or astronauts. The specialty strives to treat or prevent cond ...

residency at UTMB. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Aerospace Medicine.

Medical career

Auñón-Chancellor was hired by NASA as a flight surgeon and spent over nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for

astronauts. She received the 2009 Julian E. Ward Memorial Award from the

Aerospace Medical Association The Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) is the largest professional organization in the fields of aviation, space, and environmental medicine. The AsMA membership includes aerospace and hyperbaric medical specialists, scientists, flight nurses ...

for her contributions to

spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such ...

crewmember clinical care and development of medical kits to support launch and landing in Kazakhstan.

NASA career

Auñón-Chancellor was selected as an astronaut candidate in June 2009. She completed the astronaut candidacy training program in 2011. As part of her training, she spent two months in Antarctica from 2010 to 2011 as part of the

ANSMET ANSMET (Antarctic Search for Meteorites) is a program funded by the Office of Polar Programs of the National Science Foundation that looks for meteorites in the Transantarctic Mountains. This geographical area serves as a collection point for met ...

(Antarctic Search for Meteorites) expedition. The ANSMET expedition consisted of a 9-member systematic team and a 4-member reconnaissance team that explored new areas where future teams may go. Collectively they returned over 1200 meteorites. She served as the deputy crew surgeon for

STS-127 STS-127 (Assembly of the International Space Station, ISS assembly flight 2J/A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was the twenty-third flight of . The primary purpose of the STS-127 mission was to deliv ...

and Expedition 22. She also serves as the deputy lead for Orion – Medical Operations and also serves in the ISS Operations Branch and CAPCOM branch, assisting with medical situations.

NEEMO

In June 2012, Auñón piloted a DeepWorker 2000

submersible A submersible is an underwater vehicle which needs to be transported and supported by a larger ship, watercraft or dock, platform. This distinguishes submersibles from submarines, which are self-supporting and capable of prolonged independent ope ...

as part of the NASA/NOAA NEEMO 16 underwater exploration mission off

Key Largo, Florida Key Largo is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Monroe County, Florida, United States, located on the island of Key Largo in the upper Florida Keys. The population was 12,447 at the 2020 census, up from 10,433 in 2010. The ...

. In July 2015, Auñón-Chancellor participated as an

aquanaut An aquanaut is any person who remains underwater, breathing at the ambient pressure for long enough for the concentration of the inert components of the breathing gas dissolved in the body tissues to reach equilibrium, in a state known as sat ...

in the NEEMO 20 crew.

ISS mission

In 2018 she spent 196days, 17hours and 49minutes in space aboard the International Space Station as part of Expedition 56 and 57, arriving aboard

Soyuz MS-09 Soyuz MS-09 was a Soyuz (spacecraft), Soyuz spaceflight that launched on 6 June 2018. It transported three members of the Expedition 56/Expedition 57, 57 crew to the International Space Station (ISS). is the 138th flight of a Soyuz spacecraft. ...

. She represented NASA as a flight engineer from 6June to 20December 2018.

Management Astronaut

Since returning from her expedition to the ISS, Auñón-Chancellor has served as a Management Astronaut, covering medical issues and on-orbit support in the Astronaut Office. In January 2020, she released a study on an unnamed astronaut who had to treat their own

deep vein thrombosis Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a type of venous thrombosis involving the formation of a blood clot in a deep vein, most commonly in the legs or pelvis. A minority of DVTs occur in the arms. Symptoms can include pain, swelling, redness, and enl ...

on the International Space Station.

Russian accusations

In 2021, Russian state-owned news service

TASS The Russian News Agency TASS, or simply TASS, is a Russian state-owned news agency founded in 1904. It is the largest Russian news agency and one of the largest news agencies worldwide. TASS is registered as a Federal State Unitary Enterpri ...

published accusations from an anonymous source claiming that it was Auñón-Chancellor who was suffering from the deep vein thrombosis that she published her paper about in 2020 and that it provoked an acute psychological crisis (emotional breakdown) in space during Expedition 56 and in late August 2018, in an effort to return to Earth, sabotaged the

spacecraft by drilling a hole into its

orbital module The orbital module is a compartment of some space capsules used only in orbit. It is separated from the crewed reentry capsule before reentry. The orbital module provides 'habitat' space to use in orbit, while the reentry capsule tends to be focus ...

. The accusation was denied by NASA and officials say they knew the precise locations of the US astronauts before the leak occurred and at the moment it began. None were near the Russian segment where the Soyuz vehicle was docked. NASA said they shared this data with Russians. The accusations in 2021 came during a period of increased geopolitical tensions between the US and Russia. It also came weeks after a particularly embarrassing moment for Roscosmos; during the docking of the ''Nauka'' module its engines kept firing causing the entire space station to flip over one and a half times.

Research

Auñón-Chancellor's research is concerned with the medical implications of space radiation exposure, including computer modelling of the radiation environment of a crewed orbiting spacecraft.

Personal life

Auñón's father is Jorge Auñón, a Cuban exile who arrived in the United States in 1960; her mother is Margaret Auñón. Auñón-Chancellor is married to physicist Jeff Chancellor and has a step-daughter (from her husband's previous marriage). Auñón-Chancellor is a licensed

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

operator with the call sign of KG5TMT. She earned her Technician Class license and was granted her callsign by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 2, 2017. During the final weeks of her ISS mission, Auñón-Chancellor made random (unscheduled) ham radio contacts from the ISS, generally as the ISS made its Saturday morning and early afternoon (US Time) passes over the US. Auñón-Chancellor teaches students at the University of Texas A&M. She is a professor within the Family Medicine Residency Program. She currently is the Director of the Texas Medical Branch Aerospace Medicine Residency Program. She helps train physicians who help hope to serve the U.S. space program.

Honors and awards

Auñón-Chancellor has received the following awards and honors: * 2004 - Thomas N. and Gleaves James Award for Excellent Performance by a Third-Year Resident in Internal Medicine. * 2006 - William K. Douglas Award * 2007 - Outstanding UTMB Resident Award * 2009 - United States Air Force Flight Surgeons Julian Ward Award

References

External links

*
Spacefacts biography of Serena M. Auñón5 Things You Didn’t Know About Astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor
NASA

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...

YouTube Channel, June 5, 2018 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aunon, Serena M. 1976 births Living people American people of Cuban descent Aquanauts Physician astronauts American women astronauts NASA civilian astronauts Space medicine doctors George Washington University School of Engineering and Applied Science alumni University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston alumni University of Texas Medical Branch alumni People from Indianapolis People from League City, Texas Amateur radio people Hispanic and Latino American scientists Hispanic and Latino American women physicians 21st-century American women scientists 21st-century American women physicians 21st-century American physicians Hispanic and Latino American aviators Hispanic and Latino American women scientists