Here’s how the aerospace engineer has prepared mentally and physically for her historic space mission while still managing to stay grounded.
Growing up in Syracuse, New York, as the youngest of seven children, Jeanette Epps dreamed of going to space, just like her hero on TV’s Doctor Who. (The show instilled a lifelong interest in math and science.) When her older brother came home from college and, after glancing at her fourth-grade report card, suggested that she could become an aerospace engineer, the idea stuck. But the path to Houston wasn’t always clear. Here’s how Epps conquered her fears and fought her way to NASA.