Susan Helms | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1958-02-26)February 26, 1958 (age 67) |
| Education | United States Air Force Academy (BS) Stanford University (MS) |
| Awards | Defense Superior Service Medal (3) Legion of Merit (4) Defense Meritorious Service Medal (3) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Lieutenant General,USAF |
Time in space | 210d 23h 6m |
| Selection | NASA Group 13 (1990) |
TotalEVAs | 1 |
Total EVA time | 8h 56m |
| Missions | STS-54 STS-64 STS-78 STS-101 Expedition 2 (STS-102 /STS-105) |
Mission insignia |        |
| Military career | |
| Service years | 1980–2014 |
| Unit | United States Strategic Command |
Susan Jane Helms (born February 26, 1958) is a retiredUnited States Air Forcelieutenant general andNASAastronaut. She was the commander,14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic); and commander,Joint Functional Component Command for Space atVandenberg Air Force Base inCalifornia.[1]
Helms was a crew member on fiveSpace Shuttle missions and was a resident of theInternational Space Station (ISS) for over five months in 2001.
Helms officially retired from theUnited States Air Force in 2014.
In 2020, she was elected a member of theNational Academy of Engineering for accomplishments in civil and military space programs.
Helms was born inCharlotte, North Carolina, but considersPortland, Oregon, to be her hometown. She enjoyspiano and other musical activities,jogging,traveling,reading,computers, andcooking. She resides in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Her parents, Lieutenant Colonel (retired, USAF) Pat and Dori Helms, reside inDenver, Colorado. She has three sisters.
Helms graduated with a bachelor of science in aeronautical engineering from theU.S. Air Force Academy in 1980. She received her commission and was assigned toEglin Air Force Base,Florida, as anF-16 weapons separation engineer with the Air Force Armament Laboratory. In 1982, she became the lead engineer forF-15 weapons separation. In 1984, she was selected to attend graduate school. She received a Master of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics fromStanford University in 1985 and was assigned as an assistant professor of aeronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy. In 1987, she attended the Air Force Test Pilot School atEdwards Air Force Base,California. After completing one year of training as aflight test engineer, Helms was assigned as a USAF Exchange Officer to the Aerospace Engineering Test Establishment, atCanadian Forces Base Cold Lake inAlberta, Canada, where she worked as a flight test engineer and project officer on theCF-18 aircraft. She was managing the development of a CF-18 flight control system simulation for the Canadian Forces when selected for theastronaut program.
After a 12-year NASA career that included 211 days in space, Helms returned to theU.S. Air Force in July 2002 to take a position at HQ USAFSpace Command. After a stint as the division chief of the Space Superiority Division of the Requirements Directorate of Air Force Space Command inColorado Springs, Colorado, she served as vice commander of the45th Space Wing atPatrick Air Force Base nearCape Canaveral, Florida. She then served as deputy director of operations (Technical Training) for Air Education and Training Command atRandolph Air Force Base nearSan Antonio, Texas. Helms served on the Return To Flight task group after theColumbia accident.[2] She was promoted tobrigadier general in June 2006 and became commander of the 45th Space Wing on the same day of her promotion.[1]
Helms was promoted tomajor general in August 2009.[1] She served as the director of plans and policy, U.S. Strategic Command,Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska. She was directly responsible to the U.S. Strategic Command commander for the development and implementation of national security policy and guidance; military strategy and guidance; space and weapons employment concepts and policy; and joint doctrine as they apply to the command and the execution of its missions. She was also responsible for the development of the nation's strategic war plan, strategic support plans for theater combatant commanders and contingency planning for the global strike mission.
In January 2011, Helms was promoted tolieutenant general and assumed duties as commander, 14th Air Force (Air Forces Strategic), Air Force Space Command and commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, US Strategic Command[1][3][4][5]
As a flight test engineer, Helms has flown in 30 different types of U.S. and Canadian military aircraft.[1]
In 2013, Helms was nominated by PresidentBarack Obama to become vice commander of theAir Force Space Command. SenatorClaire McCaskill placed a permanent hold on the nomination because Helms had dismissed a charge of asexual assault and punished the accused on a lesser charge leading to his dismissal from the USAF, in her role as the General Court-Martial Convening Authority, who is required to review all findings.[6][7] As Helms's lawyer explained, Helms felt the prosecution had failed to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt.[8][9] Obama eventually withdrew Helms's nomination and she retired from the Air Force in 2014.[10]
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Helms became an astronaut in July 1991. She flew onSTS-54 (1993),STS-64 (1994),STS-78 (1996),STS-101 (2000) and served aboard theInternational Space Station as a member of theISSExpedition 2 crew (2001). A veteran of five space flights, Helms logged 5,064 hours in space, including anEVA of 8 hours and 56 minutes (world record at the time).[11][12][13]
STS-54Endeavour, January 13–19, 1993. The primary objective of this mission was the deployment of a $200-million NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-F). A diffuse X-ray spectrometer (DXS) carried in the payload bay, collected over 80,000 seconds of quality X-ray data that will enable investigators to answer questions about the origin of the Milky Way galaxy. The crew demonstrated the physics principles of everyday toys to an interactive audience of elementary school students across the United States. A highly successfulextra-vehicular activity (EVA) resulted in many lessons learned that will benefit International Space Station assembly. Mission duration was 5 days, 23 hours, 38 minutes, 17 seconds.
STS-64Discovery, September 9–20, 1994. On this flight, Helms served as the flight engineer for orbiter operations and the primary RMS operator aboardSpace Shuttle. The major objective of this flight was to validate the design and operating characteristics of Lidar in Space Technology Experiment (LITE) by gathering data about the Earth's troposphere and stratosphere. Additional objectives included the deploy and retrieval ofSPARTAN-201, a free-flying satellite that investigated the physics of thesolar corona, and the testing of a new EVA maneuvering device. The Shuttle Plume Impingement Flight Experiment (SPIFEX) was used to collect extensive data on the effects of jet thruster impingement, in preparation for proximity tasks such as space station docking. Mission duration was 10 days, 22 hours, 51 minutes.
STS-78Columbia, June 20 to July 7, 1996, Helms was the payload commander and flight engineer aboardColumbia, on the longest Space Shuttle mission to date (later that year the STS-80 mission broke its record by nineteen hours). The mission included studies sponsored by ten nations and five space agencies, and was the first mission to combine both a full microgravity studies agenda and a comprehensive life science investigation. The Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission served as a model for future studies on board the International Space Station. Mission duration was 16 days, 21 hours, 48 minutes.
STS-101Atlantis, May 19–29, 2000, was a mission dedicated to the delivery and repair of critical hardware for the International Space Station. Helms’s prime responsibilities during this mission were to perform critical repairs to extend the life of the Functional Cargo Block (FGB). In addition, she had prime responsibility of the onboard computer network and served as the mission specialist for rendezvous with the ISS. Mission duration was 9 days, 20 hours and 9 minutes.
Expedition 2 March 8 to August 22, 2001, was a mission to the International Space Station and Helms was a member of the second crew to inhabit the International Space Station Alpha. TheExpedition 2 crew (two American astronauts and one Russian cosmonaut) launched on March 8, 2001, on boardSTS-102Discovery and successfully docked with the station on March 9, 2001. TheExpedition 2 crew installed and conducted tests on the Canadian-made Space Station Robotic arm (SSRMS), conducted internal and external maintenance tasks (Russian and American), in addition to medical and science experiments. During her stay on board, Helms installed the airlock (brought up on theSTS-104 mission) using the SSRM. She and her crewmates also performed a 'fly around' of the RussianSoyuz spacecraft and welcomed the visiting Soyuz crew that included the firstspace tourist,Dennis Tito. On March 11 she performed a world-record 8 hour and 56 minute spacewalk to install hardware to the external body of the laboratory module, that stood until 17 December 2024, whenCai Xuzhe broke the record withSong Lingdong for the longest spacewalk in human history, of 9 hours and 6 minutes.[14] Helms spent a total of 163 days aboard the space station. She returned to Earth with theSTS-105 crew aboardDiscovery on August 22, 2001.
 Command Space Operations Badge |
 Air Force Senior Observer Badge with Astronaut Device |
  | Defense Superior Service Medal with twooak leaf clusters |
 | Legion of Merit with three oak leaf clusters |
 | Defense Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters |
 | Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster |
 | Air Force Commendation Medal |
 | Outstanding Unit Award with three oak leaf clusters |
 | Organizational Excellence Award with three oak leaf clusters |
 | NASA Distinguished Service Medal |
 | NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal |
  | National Defense Service Medal withservice star |
 | Global War on Terrorism Service Medal |
 | Armed Forces Service Medal |
 | Air Force Overseas Long Tour Service Ribbon |
  | Air Force Longevity Service Award with silver and two bronze oak leaf clusters |
 | Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon |
 | Air Force Training Ribbon |
_ribbon.svg) | Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" |
Helms was inducted into theInternational Space Hall of Fame in 2004.[15] She was inducted into theColorado Women's Hall of Fame in 2018.[16]
| Insignia | Rank | Date |
|---|---|---|
 | Lieutenant General | January 21, 2011 |
 | Major General | August 2, 2009 |
 | Brigadier General | June 23, 2006 |
 | Colonel | February 1, 2000 |
 | Lieutenant Colonel | March 1, 1994 |
 | Major | October 1, 1991 |
 | Captain | May 28, 1984 |
 | First Lieutenant | May 28, 1982 |
 | Second Lieutenant | May 28, 1980 |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Media related toSusan J. Helms at Wikimedia CommonsNASA Astronaut Group 12 ← NASA Astronaut Group 13 →NASA Astronaut Group 14 | |||||||
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