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Veteran astronaut Marsha Ivins – a five-time space shuttle flyer — has left NASA, the space agency announced yesterday (Jan. 4).
Ivins left NASA on Dec. 31, 2010, agency officials said. She is the first astronaut to announce her retirement from spaceflight in 2011, a watershed year that will see the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight, as well as the last flights of NASA's space shuttle program — a transition that may be spurring other astronauts to step down as well, experts say.
"Marsha's incredible depth of mission experience and technical expertise has been a tremendous asset to this office," Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), said in a statement. "Her expertise and dedication to NASA's mission will be sorely missed."
36 years of NASA service
Ivins, 59, joined NASA as an engineer in 1974. She worked on space shuttle displays and controls and served in JSC's aircraft operations as a flight engineer for the shuttle's training aircraft, agency officials said.
Ivins also served as co-pilot of Gulfstream I, NASA's administrative aircraft, and has flown many other types of planes and gliders. She has logged more than 7,000 hours in NASA and civilian aircraft, officials said.
NASA selected Ivins as a mission specialist in its astronaut class of 1984. She spent more than 1,300 hours in space on five different shuttle missions over the years: STS-32 in 1990, STS-46 in 1992, STS-62 in 1994, STS-81 in 1997 and STS-98 in 2001.
"She's one of the more experienced astronauts in the office," said Rob Pearlman, editor of collectSPACE.com, a website for space history enthusiasts and a SPACE.com partner. "She's experienced all the different types of shuttle missions that there are."
Ivins left NASA on Dec. 31, 2010, agency officials said. She is the first astronaut to announce her retirement from spaceflight in 2011, a watershed year that will see the 50th anniversary of human spaceflight, as well as the last flights of NASA's space shuttle program — a transition that may be spurring other astronauts to step down as well, experts say.
"Marsha's incredible depth of mission experience and technical expertise has been a tremendous asset to this office," Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), said in a statement. "Her expertise and dedication to NASA's mission will be sorely missed."
36 years of NASA service
Ivins, 59, joined NASA as an engineer in 1974. She worked on space shuttle displays and controls and served in JSC's aircraft operations as a flight engineer for the shuttle's training aircraft, agency officials said.
Ivins also served as co-pilot of Gulfstream I, NASA's administrative aircraft, and has flown many other types of planes and gliders. She has logged more than 7,000 hours in NASA and civilian aircraft, officials said.
NASA selected Ivins as a mission specialist in its astronaut class of 1984. She spent more than 1,300 hours in space on five different shuttle missions over the years: STS-32 in 1990, STS-46 in 1992, STS-62 in 1994, STS-81 in 1997 and STS-98 in 2001.
"She's one of the more experienced astronauts in the office," said Rob Pearlman, editor of collectSPACE.com, a website for space history enthusiasts and a SPACE.com partner. "She's experienced all the different types of shuttle missions that there are."
