Posted on 01/19/2018 12:16:36 PM PST by Red Badger
In this Sept. 16, 2014 photo provided by NASA, astronaut Jeanette Epps participates in a spacewalk training session at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. In June 2018, Epps was supposed to be the first African-American to live on the International Space Station, but on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2018, NASA announced it was pulling her off the mission for undisclosed reasons. (Robert Markowitz/NASA via AP)
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NASA has bumped an astronaut off an upcoming spaceflight, a rare move for the space agency so close to launch.
Astronaut Jeanette Epps was supposed to rocket away in early June, and would have been the first African-American to live on the International Space Station. Late Thursday, NASA announced it was pulling Epps off the mission but didn't disclose why. Astronauts have been removed from missions in the past, mostly for health reasons.
Epps, an engineer, will be considered for future space missions, according to NASA.
She's been replaced by her backup, Serena Aunon-Chancellor, a doctor. Both were chosen as astronauts in 2009.
Epps is returning to Houston from Russia, where she'd been training to fly to the space station with a German and Russian. NASA spokeswoman Brandi Dean said Friday it was a decision by NASA, not the Russian Space Agency.
African-American astronauts have visited the space station, but Epps would have been the first to live there. Space station crews typically stay for five to six months. NASA assigned her to the flight a year ago.
![](https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/csz/news/800/2018/1-nasabumpsast.jpg")
Affirmative Action did not win!!!
A Dr. Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor is a super star with a Doctorate of Medicine from The University of Texas - Health Science Center at Houston in 2001. Completed a three-year residency in internal medicine at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas, in 2004, and then completed an additional year as Chief Resident in the Internal Medicine Department in 2005. She also completed an aerospace medicine residency at UTMB as well as a Master of Public Health in 2007. She is board certified in Internal and Aerospace Medicine.
vs
an Dr. Epps honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from LeMoyne College who works for the CIA
Dr. Epps worked for Ford Motor Company where she received both a provisional patent and a U.S. patent for her research. After leaving Ford, she joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for seven years working as a Technical Intelligence Officer before becoming an astronaut. She currently serves in the ISS Operations Branch working issues in support of space station crews.
In 2002, Dr. Epps joined the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) where she spent more than 7 years working as a Technical Intelligence Officer. She received multiple performance rewards for her work at the CIA.
In 2016, she was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from LeMoyne College.
She may have been diagnosed with some chronic problem such as asthma or something else that would make it difficult for her to live there. People of African descent are very prone to asthma, but it doesn’t always emerge in childhood and can come on later.
In any case, I don’t think it’s right for people to start implying things about her qualifications, her attitude, or anything else within her control. She made it this far, so she’s probably fine on every score, and I’m sure it was something unrelated to either of these things.
Perhaps. . . but I still think pregnancy is the reason.
And the MD is much better looking... Good for international relations!!!
Thank you. Some of these comments are disgusting.
That’s spacist.
Likely some health issue....as I see it. And that’s just guessing.
Too bad they didn’t pick Sheila Jackson Lee, a way out in space kind of gal, for the mission.. she could view the US flag on Mars from her portico..
Maps exactly when Obama started planting his stooges in key locations.
Dollars to donuts, she was placed in the CIA for a reason.
Uncle, you might want to do an internet search on Ms. Epps.
She has a PHD in Aerospace Engineering. You do not get selected to be in the astronaut program unless are extremely intelligent and qualified. It is a very competitive program to get in.
I personally know an alternate(he did not get picked to go on the space shuttle) who still works for NASA in Houston at the Johnson Space Center. He is an Air Force Reserve Lt Colonel. He has two PHD’s and is a pilot. He was a bombardier in the Air Force.
I would guess that Ms. Epps has some physical impairment that is keeping her from making the trip.
As much as I no longer respect NASA, biggest probability is a medical issue, followed by some problems in her family. Methinks NASA would not make a last minute change for the other selectee...regardless of her credentials.
While speaking of that, could one imagine Dorkbama the Muslim eunuch quota boy even getting through the first hour of astronaut training? (Of course, he could have gotten in. He’d get in with the same quota crap that got him into Columbia and Harvard.)
Serena Aunon-Chancellor, could be her replacement since she’s a recognized flight Physician....might be they need her up there.
I would guess that Ms. Epps has some physical impairment that is keeping her from making the trip.
Possibly or that the mission plan had been changed to the extent that a medical doctor was a skill needed more on this round more than an aerospace engineer. If so that wouldn’t be a knock against Ms. Epps.
Jeanette Epps was born in Syracuse, New York,[1] one of seven children born to Henry and Luberta (née Jackson) Epps, southerners who moved to Syracuse as part of the Great Migration.[4][5] She graduated from Corcoran High School in Syracuse and earned a bachelor in science from Le Moyne College and an M.S. and a Ph.D in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland.[1][6][7][8]
Career[edit]
After graduating, Epps worked in research at Ford Motor Company, then as a Technical Intelligence Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency.[6]. In June 2009 she was selected as an astronaut candidate, and [1] She qualified as an astronaut in 2011,[6] and subsequently served as an aquanaut aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 18 undersea exploration mission for nine days from July 21, 2014. [9][10] On January 5, 2016 NASA announced that Epps was set to become the first African American space station crew member in May 2018, as a flight engineer on Expedition 56, remaining on board for Expedition 57,[11] however, on January 16, 2018 it was reported that Epps had been replaced on the crew of Expedition 56 by Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor. [12]
She’s very good-looking not that that matters ...and with a doctorate in Aerospace engineering she’s most certainly qualified. I hope if it is a health issue, the most likely problem, that it is not permanent or serious.
I wonder if it could also have to do with a skill needed for the slot due to the needs of the rest of the team. It may be the Russians made a change to their crew, or the mission objective/experiments to be done have changed, and they need someone on board with medical background rather than another engineer. I would think they would want a medical specialist on board at all times.
Could be anything really....at least they have a great replacement!
That’s what I was thinking. THey are very good about avoiding germs in the run-up to a launch, but it is NOT unheard of for an exposure, and they don’t take chances. Remember how on Apollo 13 Ken Mattingly was replaced 48 hours before launch because of exposure to measles.
what if the Russians and Euro on the space station were going to boycott if a black comes aboard ?
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