
PERSONAL
DATA: Born
February 26, 1958, in Charlotte, North Carolina, but considers Portland,
Oregon, to be her hometown. She enjoys piano and other musical activities,
jogging, traveling, reading, computers, and cooking. Plays keyboard
for MAX-Q, a rock-n-roll band. Her parents, Lt. Col. (Ret., USAF) Pat
and Dori Helms, reside in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from Parkrose Senior High School, Portland, Oregon, in 1976;
received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from
the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1980, and a master of science degree in
aeronautics/astronautics from Stanford University in 1985.
ORGANIZATIONS:
Women Military Aviators; U.S. Air Force Academy Association of Graduates;
Stanford Alumni Association; Association of Space Explorers, Sea/Space
Symposium, Chi Omega Alumni.
SPECIAL
HONORS: Recipient
of the Distinguished Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious
Service Medal, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force
Commendation Medal, NASA Space Flight Medals, and the NASA Outstanding
Leadership Medal. Named a Distinguished Graduate of the USAF Test Pilot
School, and recipient of the R.L. Jones Award for Outstanding Flight
Test Engineer, Class 88A. In 1990, she received the Aerospace Engineering
Test Establishment Commanding Officer's Commendation, a special award
unique to the Canadian Forces. Named the Air Force Armament Laboratory
Junior Engineer of the Year in 1983.
EXPERIENCE:
Helms graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1980. She received
her commission and was assigned to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, as
an F-16 weapons separation engineer with the Air Force Armament Laboratory.
In 1982, she became the lead engineer for F-15 weapons separation. In
1984, she was selected to attend graduate school. She received her degree
from Stanford University in 1985 and was assigned as an assistant professor
of aeronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. In 1987, she attended
the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
After completing one year of training as a flight test engineer, Helms
was assigned as a USAF Exchange Officer to the Aerospace Engineering
Test Establishment, Canadian Forces Base, Cold Lake, Alberta, Canada,
where she worked as a flight test engineer and project officer on the
CF-18 aircraft. She was managing the development of a CF-18 Flight Control
System Simulation for the Canadian Forces when selected for the astronaut
program. As a flight test engineer, Helms has flown in 30 different
types of U.S. and Canadian military aircraft.
NASA
EXPERIENCE:
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Helms became an astronaut in July
1991. A veteran of four space flights, Helms has logged over 1,096 hours
in space. She flew on STS-54 in 1993, STS-64 in 1994, STS-78 in 1996,
and most recently on STS-101. Helms is assigned as a member of the second
crew to inhabit the International Space Station (ISS-2), scheduled for
launch in February 2001, and composed of a 3 member crew (2 American
astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut). The crew will install and conduct
tests on the Canadian made Space Station Robotic arm (SSRMS), unload
the Italian made Logistics module, conduct internal and external maintenance
tasks, conduct medical and science experiments. During her stay onboard
the Space Station, STS-104 will bring up the Airlock which will be added
to the Space Station. Helms will be the SSRMS operator taking the Airlock
from the Shuttle and will berth the Airlock to the Space Station. After
approximately 5 months, the ISS-2 crew will return onboard a Space Shuttle
that will transport their replacement crew.
SPACE
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
STS-54 Endeavour, January 13-19, 1993. The primary objective of this
mission was the deploy of a $200-million NASA Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite (TDRS-F). A Diffuse X-Ray Spectrometer (DXS) carried in the
payload bay, collected over 80,000 seconds of quality X-ray data that
will enable investigators to answer questions about the origin of the
Milky Way galaxy. The crew demonstrated the physics principles of everyday
toys to an interactive audience of elementary school students across
the United States. A highly successful Extravehicular Activity (EVA)
resulted in many lessons learned that will benefit Space Station Freedom
assembly. Mission duration was 5 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 17 seconds.
STS-64 Discovery, September 9-20, 1994. On this flight, Helms served
as the flight engineer for orbiter operations and the primary RMS operator
aboard Space Shuttle. The major objective of this flight was to validate
the design and operating characteristics of Lidar in Space Technology
Experiment (LITE) by gathering data about the Earth’s troposphere
and stratosphere. Additional objectives included the deploy and retrieval
of SPARTAN-201, a free-flying satellite that investigated the physics
of the solar corona, and the testing of a new EVA maneuvering device.
The Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX) was used to
collect extensive data on the effects of jet thruster impingement, in
preparation for proximity tasks such as space station docking. Mission
duration was 10 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes.
STS-78 Columbia, June 20 to July 7, 1996, Helms was the payload commander
and flight engineer aboard Columbia, on the longest Space Shuttle mission
to date. The mission included studies sponsored by ten nations and five
space agencies, and was the first mission to combine both a full microgravity
studies agenda and a comprehensive life science investigation. The Life
and Microgravity Spacelab mission served as a model for future studies
on board the International Space Station. Mission duration was 16 days,
21 hours, 48 minutes.
STS-101 Atlantis, May 19-29, 2000, was a mission dedicated to the delivery
and repair of critical hardware for the International Space Station.
Helms prime responsibilities during this mission were to perform critical
repairs to extend the life of the Functional Cargo Block (FGB). In addition,
she had prime responsibility of the onboard computer network and served
as the mission specialist for rendezvous with the ISS. Mission duration
was 9 days, 20 hours and 9 minutes.
JUNE
2000