Beth Moses
Beth Moses is Chief Astronaut Instructor and Interiors Program Manager for Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo program, and is a Commercial Astronaut, as classified by the Federal Aviation Administration. She was the first woman to make a spaceflight on a commercially launched vehicle, Career. Natalie Beth Stubbings grew up in Northbrook, Illinois, and attended Glenbrook North High School. She obtained bachelor's (1992) and master's (1994) degrees in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics and as a senior engineer in the NASA/JSC EVA Project Office. As a student, she conducted materials  research in parabolic flight. She worked for NASA as the assembly manager for the International Space Station where she led the global program of human-in-the-loop testing which designed, developed, and verified the spacewalk mechanisms used to assemble and maintain the station. Moses later joined Virgin Galactic where she serves as Chief Astronaut Instructor and Interiors Program Manager During her spaceflight on 22 Feb 2019, she became the first person on a suborbital mission known to have unstrapped and floated around the cabin, as part of her job evaluating the future passenger experience. On mission VF-01 she reached  a height of 89.9 km above the Earth's surface. The Federal Aviation Administration awarded her the Commercial Astronaut Wings as a result of this mission. Quotes. “One of the things that I believe in is that if a greater slice of humanity can experience spaceflight, it will translate to untold benefits and changes on Earth. What if every world leader saw Earth from space? It might be a more gentle, kind planet.” "After countless projects, I can say this: engineering persistence trumps personal, cultural, or gender factors. In modern global human aerospace, it really doesn’t matter what you  look like. Or where your parents lived. Or even what native language you grew up with. What does matter is your engineering skill, common sense, courtesy, persistence, and dedication to the shared mission." Recognition. Beth Moses was awarded the National Science Foundation's Micro gravity research award. This allowed her to further her research in parabolic flight. In 2009 the International Space Station (ISS) was awarded the Robert J. Collier trophy. Moses played a large role in the development required to attain this award. In 2021, she was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award from Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook , IL.