HOUSTON – Although every NASA astronaut has called Houston home at one time or another, only one — astronaut Shannon Walker — was born, raised and educated from first grade through her doctorate in Space City. Walker is preparing for her first flight to the International Space Station this summer. She will take part in a preflight press conference at 1 p.m. CST Tuesday, March 2, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston after which she will be available for individual interviews.
Walker was born in Houston, attended Parker Elementary School, Johnston Middle School and graduated from Westbury Senior High School. She went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in physics and a Master of Science and a doctorate in space physics all from Rice University. She was selected by NASA to become an astronaut in 2004 following more than a decade of work in the local space industry.
Walker will serve as a flight engineer on the station for Expedition 24 along with crewmates Army Col. Doug Wheelock and Russian cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin. The trio is scheduled to launch in a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on June 16.
Walker, Wheelock and Yurchikhin will be available to speak with journalists in the press conference and during individual interviews March 2. A photo opportunity will follow the briefing. The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA TV.
To attend the briefing and participate in the interviews in person or by phone, media should contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 4 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 25.
For Walker’s complete biography, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/walker-s.html
For the latest information about Expedition 24 and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
