For this month's Intrepid Museum Astro Live, retired Astronaut Joan Higginbotham will chat with Mike Massimino about her experiences in space. The NSF Team is at Intrepid Museum in NYC supporting livestreaming of events during Kids Week 2024. During Kids Week, children of all ages and interests learn about STEAM through fun-filled activities, NASA displays & exhibits, live animal shows, hands-on workshops, performances, special guests and interactive demonstrations designed to educate and inspire. Intro by NSF's John Galloway followed by the live discussion between Joan and Mike. ----------------------------------------- For more info check out the museum's website: https://intrepidmuseum.org/kids-week ----------------------------------------- GUEST BIO: Joan Higginbotham began her career in 1987, at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, as a Payload Electrical Engineer in the Electrical and Telecommunications Systems Division. Within six months she became the lead for the Orbiter Experiments (OEX) on OV-102, the Space Shuttle Columbia. She later worked on the shuttle payload bay reconfiguration for all shuttle missions and conducted electrical compatibility tests for all payloads flown aboard the shuttle. She was tasked by KSC management to undertake several special assignments where she served as the Executive Staff Assistant to the Director of Shuttle Operations and Management, led a team of engineers in performing critical analysis for the space shuttle flow in support of a simulation model tool, and worked on an interactive display detailing the space shuttle processing procedures at Spaceport USA (Kennedy Space Center’s Visitors Center). Higginbotham then served as backup orbiter project engineer for OV-104, Space Shuttle Atlantis, where she participated in the integration of the orbiter docking station (ODS) into the space shuttle used during Shuttle/Mir docking missions. Two years later, she was promoted to lead orbiter project engineer for OV-102, Space Shuttle Columbia. In this position, she held the technical lead government engineering position in the firing room where she supported and managed the integration of vehicle testing and troubleshooting. She actively participated in 53 space shuttle launches during her 9-year tenure at Kennedy Space Center. Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in April 1996, Joan reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. She was assigned technical duties in the Payloads & Habitability Branch, the Shuttle Avionics & Integration Laboratory, the Kennedy Space Center Operations Support Branch, where she tested various modules of the International Space Station for operability, compatibility, and functionality prior to launch, the Astronaut Office CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) Branch in the startup and support of numerous space station missions and space shuttle missions, the Robotics Branch, and Lead for the International Space Station Systems Crew Interfaces Section. SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-116 Discovery (December 9-22, 2006). The nearly 13-day mission continued construction of the ISS outpost by adding the P5 spacer truss segment. Higginbotham’s primary task was to operate the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), aka the robotic arm. With Joan as the ‘loadmaster’, Discovery delivered a new crew member and more than two tons of equipment and supplies to the station. Almost two tons of items no longer needed on the station returned to Earth on STS-116. Mission duration was 12 days, 20 hours, and 45 minutes. During this mission, Joan logged over 308 hours in space. In November 2007, Joan retired after a 20-year distinguished career with NASA to pursue a career in the private sector. ----------------------------------------- If you are interested in using footage captured by this stream, please review our content use policy: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content-use-policy/