Ellen S. Baker
Encyclopedia
Ellen Louise Shulman Baker, M.D., M.P.H. (born April 27, 1953) is an American
physician
and a NASA
astronaut
. Baker serves as Chief of the Education/Medical Branch of the NASA Astronaut Office.
, she was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina
, but raised in New York City
. She is married to Kenneth J. Baker. They have two daughters.
at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas
. In 1981, after three years of training, she was certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine
.
. That same year, she graduated from the Air Force Aerospace Medicine Course at Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
. Prior to her selection as an astronaut candidate she served as a physician in the Flight Medicine Clinic at the Johnson Space Center. Selected by NASA in May 1984, Baker became an astronaut in June 1985. Since then, she has had a variety of jobs at NASA in support of the Space Shuttle
program and Space Station
development. She was a mission specialist on STS-34
in 1989, STS-50
in 1992, and STS-71
in 1995 and has logged over 686 hours in space. She is Chief of the Astronaut Office Education/Medical Branch.
in Florida
, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base
in California
. During the mission, the crew deployed the Galileo probe to explore Jupiter
, operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV) to map atmospheric ozone
, conducted several medical experiments, and numerous scientific experiments. Mission objectives were accomplished in 79 orbits of the Earth, traveling 1.8 million miles in 119 hours and 41 minutes.
STS-50 Columbia (June 25, 1992 - July 9, 1992) launched and landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-50 was the first flight of the United States Microgravity Laboratory and the first Extended Duration Orbiter flight. Over a two-week period, the crew conducted scientific experiments involving crystal growth, fluid physics, fluid dynamics, biological science, and combustion science. Mission objectives were accomplished in 221 orbits of the Earth, traveling 5.7 million miles in 331 hours 30 seconds and 4 minutes in space.
STS-71 Atlantis (June 27-July 7, 1995) launched from the Kennedy Space Center with a seven-member crew and returned there with an eight-member crew. STS-71 was the first Space Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir
, and involved an exchange of crews. The Atlantis Space Shuttle was modified to carry a docking system compatible with the Russian Mir Space Station. It also carried a Spacelab
module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections. Mission accomplished in 153 orbits of the Earth, traveling 4.1 million miles in 235 hours and 23 minutes.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and a NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
. Baker serves as Chief of the Education/Medical Branch of the NASA Astronaut Office.
Family
The daughter of Mel and Claire ShulmanClaire Shulman
Claire K. Shulman is an American politician. She was the borough president of Queens, New York from 1986 until 2002; the first woman to hold this position in New York City's history....
, she was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville, North Carolina
Fayetteville is a city located in Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is the county seat of Cumberland County, and is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a U.S. Army post located northwest of the city....
, but raised in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She is married to Kenneth J. Baker. They have two daughters.
Education
Baker graduated from:- Bayside High SchoolBayside High School (New York City)Bayside High School is a four-year public high school located in Bayside, in the New York City borough of Queens, administered by the New York City Department of Education. Bayside High School, Abraham Lincoln High School, Samuel J...
in QueensQueensQueens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
in 1970. - University at BuffaloUniversity at Buffalo, The State University of New YorkUniversity at Buffalo, The State University of New York, also commonly known as the University at Buffalo or UB, is a public research university and a "University Center" in the State University of New York system. The university was founded by Millard Fillmore in 1846. UB has multiple campuses...
, Bachelor of Arts degree in geologyGeologyGeology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
in 1974 - Cornell UniversityCornell UniversityCornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
, doctorate in medicineDoctor of MedicineDoctor of Medicine is a doctoral degree for physicians. The degree is granted by medical schools...
in 1978 - University of TexasUniversity of Texas SystemThe University of Texas System encompasses 15 educational institutions in Texas, of which nine are academic universities and six are health institutions. The system is headquartered in Austin and has a total enrollment of over 190,000 students...
School of Public Health, Master's Degree in Public HealthMaster of Public HealthThe Master of Public Health and the Doctor of Public Health are multi-disciplinary professional degrees awarded for studies in areas related to public health....
in 1994,
Medical career
After completing medical school, Baker trained in internal medicineInternal medicine
Internal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists. They are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes...
at the University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. In 1981, after three years of training, she was certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine
American Board of Internal Medicine
The American Board of Internal Medicine is a non-profit, independent physician evaluation organization committed to continuously improving the profession for the public good by certifying physicians who practice internal medicine and its sub-specialties...
.
NASA career
In 1981, following her parents, Baker joined NASA as a medical officer at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space CenterLyndon B. Johnson Space Center
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's center for human spaceflight training, research and flight control. The center consists of a complex of 100 buildings constructed on 1,620 acres in Houston, Texas, USA...
. That same year, she graduated from the Air Force Aerospace Medicine Course at Brooks Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...
. Prior to her selection as an astronaut candidate she served as a physician in the Flight Medicine Clinic at the Johnson Space Center. Selected by NASA in May 1984, Baker became an astronaut in June 1985. Since then, she has had a variety of jobs at NASA in support of the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
program and Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
development. She was a mission specialist on STS-34
STS-34
STS-34 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission using Space Shuttle Atlantis. It was the 31st shuttle mission overall, and the 5th flight for Atlantis. During the mission, the Jupiter-bound Galileo probe was deployed into space...
in 1989, STS-50
STS-50
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 28.5°*Period: 90.6 min- Mission highlights:...
in 1992, and STS-71
STS-71
STS-71 was the third mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program, which carried out the first Space Shuttle docking to Mir, a Russian space station. The mission used Space Shuttle Atlantis, which lifted off from launch pad 39A on 27 June 1995 from Kennedy Space Center, Florida...
in 1995 and has logged over 686 hours in space. She is Chief of the Astronaut Office Education/Medical Branch.
Spaceflight experience
STS-34 Atlantis (October 18–23, 1989) launched from the Kennedy Space CenterKennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. During the mission, the crew deployed the Galileo probe to explore Jupiter
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
, operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV) to map atmospheric ozone
Ozone
Ozone , or trioxygen, is a triatomic molecule, consisting of three oxygen atoms. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope...
, conducted several medical experiments, and numerous scientific experiments. Mission objectives were accomplished in 79 orbits of the Earth, traveling 1.8 million miles in 119 hours and 41 minutes.
STS-50 Columbia (June 25, 1992 - July 9, 1992) launched and landed at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. STS-50 was the first flight of the United States Microgravity Laboratory and the first Extended Duration Orbiter flight. Over a two-week period, the crew conducted scientific experiments involving crystal growth, fluid physics, fluid dynamics, biological science, and combustion science. Mission objectives were accomplished in 221 orbits of the Earth, traveling 5.7 million miles in 331 hours 30 seconds and 4 minutes in space.
STS-71 Atlantis (June 27-July 7, 1995) launched from the Kennedy Space Center with a seven-member crew and returned there with an eight-member crew. STS-71 was the first Space Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...
, and involved an exchange of crews. The Atlantis Space Shuttle was modified to carry a docking system compatible with the Russian Mir Space Station. It also carried a Spacelab
Spacelab
Spacelab was a reusable laboratory used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory consisted of multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier and other related hardware housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay...
module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections. Mission accomplished in 153 orbits of the Earth, traveling 4.1 million miles in 235 hours and 23 minutes.