Serena Auñón-Chancellor Explained

Serena Auñón-Chancellor
Birth Name:Serena Maria Auñón
Birth Date:9 April 1976
Birth Place:Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Spouse:Jeff Chancellor
Education:George Washington University (BS)
University of Texas, Houston (MD)
University of Texas, Galveston (MPH)
Type:NASA astronaut
Time:196d 17h 49m
Selection:NASA Group 20 (2009)
Mission:Soyuz MS-09 (Expedition 56/57)

Serena Maria Auñón-Chancellor (born April 9, 1976) is an American physician, engineer, and NASA astronaut.[1] [2] [3] She visited the ISS as a flight engineer for Expedition 56/57 on the International Space Station.

Education

Auñón-Chancellor attended Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado. She holds a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from George Washington University, an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) in 2001, and an M.P.H. degree from the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in 2006. She completed a three-year residency in internal medicine at UTMB in Galveston, Texas, in 2004, and then completed an additional year as Chief Resident. She also completed an aerospace medicine residency at UTMB. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Aerospace Medicine.

Medical career

Auñón-Chancellor was hired by NASA as a flight surgeon and spent over nine months in Russia supporting medical operations for International Space Station astronauts.

She received the 2009 Julian E. Ward Memorial Award from the Aerospace Medical Association for her contributions to spaceflight crewmember clinical care and development of medical kits to support launch and landing in Kazakhstan.[4]

NASA career

Auñón-Chancellor was selected as an astronaut candidate in June 2009.[1] She completed the astronaut candidacy training program in 2011.

As part of her training, she spent two months in Antarctica from 2010 to 2011 as part of the ANSMET (Antarctic Search for Meteorites) expedition. The ANSMET expedition consisted of a 9-member systematic team and a 4-member reconnaissance team that explored new areas where future teams may go. Collectively they returned over 1200 meteorites.[5]

She served as the deputy crew surgeon for STS-127 and Expedition 22. She also serves as the deputy lead for Orion – Medical Operations.[4]

NEEMO

In June 2012, Auñón piloted a DeepWorker 2000 submersible as part of the NASA/NOAA NEEMO 16 underwater exploration mission off Key Largo, Florida.[6] [7]

In July 2015, Auñón-Chancellor participated as an aquanaut in the NEEMO 20 crew.[8]

ISS mission

In 2018 she spent 196 days 17 hours 49 mins in space aboard the ISS as part of Soyuz MS-09 (Expedition 56/57). She represented NASA and the USA as Flight Engineer 1 from 6 June 2018 to 20 December 2018.

Management Astronaut

Aunon-Chancellor is a Management Astronaut and covers medical issues and on-orbit support in the Astronaut Office.[9] In January 2020, she released a study on an unnamed astronaut who had to treat their own deep vein thrombosis on the International Space Station. [10]

Russian accusations

In 2021 Russian state-owned news service TASS published accusations from an anonymous source claiming Auñón-Chancellor had an emotional breakdown in space and sabotaged the Soyuz spacecraft by drilling a hole in the module attached to the ISS during Expedition 56 in 2018. No evidence implicating Auñón-Chancellor was given. The accusation was denied by NASA, and came during a period of increasingly poor relations between NASA and the Russian space agency following the near-disastrous uncontrolled thruster firing of Russia’s Nauka ISS module.[11] [12] [13]

Research

Auñón-Chancellor's research is concerned with the medical implications of space radiation exposure, including computer modelling of the radiation environment of a crewed orbiting spacecraft.[14] [15]

Personal life

Auñón's father is Jorge Auñón, a Cuban exile who arrived in the United States in 1960; her mother is Margaret Auñón.

Auñón-Chancellor is married to physicist Jeff Chancellor[16] and has a step-daughter (from her husband's previous marriage).[17]

Auñón-Chancellor is a licensed amateur radio operator with the call sign of KG5TMT.[18] She earned her Technician Class license and was granted her callsign by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on June 2, 2017.[19] During the final weeks of her ISS mission, Auñón-Chancellor made random (unscheduled) ham radio contacts from the ISS, generally as the ISS made its Saturday morning and early afternoon (US Time) passes over the US.[20]

Honors and awards

Auñón-Chancellor has received the following awards and honors:[21]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: NASA Selects New Astronauts for Future Space Exploration . NASA HQ. June 29, 2009. NASA. June 29, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20090801162824/http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/ascans2009.html. August 1, 2009.
  2. Web site: Astronaut Candidates. NASA HQ. June 29, 2009. NASA. June 29, 2009.
  3. Web site: In Their Own Words: Serena M. Aunon. NASA. June 29, 2009. NASA. June 29, 2009. https://web.archive.org/web/20091028205915/http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/2009_aunon.html. October 28, 2009.
  4. Web site: Julian A. Ward Award. https://web.archive.org/web/20110720190013/http://www.asma.org/journal/html_news/ward-aunon.php . dead . July 20, 2011.
  5. Harvey . Ralph . February 2011 . 2010-2011 ANSMET Field Season Report . live . Antarctic Meteorite Newsletter . 34 . 1 . https://web.archive.org/web/20220817002638/https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/antmet/amn/amnfeb11/programnews.cfm . 2022-08-17.
  6. Web site: NEEMO 16: EVA Divers and Subs. Steve. Squyres. Steve Squyres. NASA. June 17, 2012. July 12, 2012. dead. https://archive.today/20121213181014/http://wiki.nasa.gov/cm/blog/analogsfieldtesting/posts/post_1339979223707.html. December 13, 2012.
  7. Web site: Image of the Week: Aquanaut to astronaut. June 26, 2012. UK Space Agency. July 12, 2012.
  8. Web site: crew of NEEMO 20. July 20, 2015.
  9. Web site: Serena M. Aunon-Chancellor, (M.D.) NASA Astronaut . NASA . October 2019 . June 24, 2021.
  10. Web site: An Astronaut Got a Blood Clot in Space. Here's How Doctors on Earth Fixed It.. Leonard David 03. January 2020. January 3, 2020. Space.com.
  11. News: Thompson . Amy . Russian space officials try to blame NASA astronaut for Soyuz air leak in 2018: report . January 23, 2022 . Space.com . August 14, 2021.
  12. News: Berger . Eric . NASA stands by its astronaut after incendiary Russian claims . January 23, 2022 . Ars Technica . August 13, 2021.
  13. News: Davenport . Christian . Tensions with Russia are now spilling into space, complicating International Space Station partnership . January 23, 2022 . Washington Post . December 21, 2021.
  14. Chancellor, Jeffery C. . Auñon-Chancellor, Serena M. . Charles, John . January 2018. Medical Implications of Space Radiation Exposure Due to Low-Altitude Polar Orbits. Aerospace Medicine and Human Performance. 89. 1 . 1. Ingenta Connect. 29233235 . 10.3357/AMHP.ED0118.2018 .
  15. npj Microgravity . Chancellor JC, Blue RS, Cengel KA, Auñón-Chancellor SM, Rubins KH, Katzgraber HG, Kennedy AR . April 2018. Limitations in predicting the space radiation health risk for exploration astronauts. 4 . 8 . 10.1038/s41526-018-0043-2 . 29644336 . 5882936 .
  16. Web site: Graduate Student Jeff Chancellor Honored For Space Radiation Research. May 18, 2018. Texas A&M Today.
  17. Web site: Serena Aunon-Chancellor: family. July 20, 2020. www.spacefacts.de.
  18. Web site: via the ARRL: Radio Amateurs to Swap Spots on International Space Station (ISS) Crew. June 3, 2018. June 8, 2018. June 12, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142213/http://twiar.net/2018/06/03/via-the-arrl-radio-amateurs-to-swap-spots-on-international-space-station-iss-crew/. dead.
  19. Web site: KG5TMT Callsign Page. July 20, 2020. QRZ Callsign Database. en-US.
  20. Web site: International Space Station Crew Member Fires Up NA1SS to Seek Random Contacts. July 20, 2020. www.arrl.org. en.
  21. Web site: Serena Auñón-Chancellor . NASA . October 2016. June 12, 2018.
  22. Web site: Julian E Ward Award . https://web.archive.org/web/20180612141316/http://www.sousaffs.org/aw-ward.php . dead . June 12, 2018 . Society of United States Air Force Flight Surgeons . June 12, 2018 .