Astronaut Jeanette Epps , slated to be the first African - American crew fellow member on board the International Space Station , will not be fly in 2018 , according toa NASA announcement .
Epps was slat to be a flight engineer on board the station in a military mission schedule to set up in May . She will instead assume duties in the “ Astronaut Office , ” and will be exchange by Serena M. Auñón - Chancellor , who was the second Hispanic charwoman to become a NASA cosmonaut consort toNBC Latino .
When asked by email about the reason for the variety to Epps ’ role , NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean told Gizmodo that NASA does n’t cater entropy on these “ staff office matter . ”
NASA selected Syracuse , New York - born Epps as an astronaut in 2009 , and the May spaceflight would have been her first . She get her Ph . D in aerospace engineering science at the University of Maryland in 2000 , and mold in the CIA for seven year prior to get together NASA , according to herofficial biography .
The Rootreported last January that NASA has only had 14 black spaceman , including three women . Epps would have been the first to remain on board the ISS .
As for what ’s next , “ Epps has returned to the dynamic astronaut corps at JSC to assume duties in the spaceman office , ” said Dean ’s email . “ She will be regard for appointment to future missions . ”
We will update this story if and when we get more info .
[ NASA ]
AstronomyNASAScienceSpace
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