Janet L. Kavandi transitioned from developing thermal batteries for defense applications at Boeing to logging over 33 days in space as a veteran of three NASA shuttle missions. Her career path through analytical chemistry, aerospace engineering, and orbital operations saw her eventually transition from the flight deck to executive leadership as the director of the NASA Glenn Research Center.
Early Education and Engineering Roots
Born in Carthage, Missouri, in 1959, Kavandi graduated as valedictorian from Carthage Senior High School in 1977. She pursued a scientific education, earning a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Missouri Southern State University in 1980, followed by a master's degree from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in 1982. Her doctoral work at the University of Washington, completed in 1990, specialized in analytical chemistry and resulted in two patents for pressure-indicating coatings using porphyrin photoluminescence for wind tunnel aerodynamic testing.
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Before joining the astronaut corps, Kavandi worked in industrial and defense engineering. She began her career in 1982 at Eagle-Picher Industries, developing batteries for defense applications. She later moved to Boeing Defense, Space & Security in Seattle in 1984. During her tenure there, she contributed to various high-profile programs, including the Short Range Attack Missile II, the Lightweight Exo-Atmospheric Projectile, and the Peacekeeper missile, while also supporting studies for the Space Station and Lunar and Mars Base architectures.
NASA Flight Operations
Selected as an astronaut candidate in 1994, Kavandi reported to the Johnson Space Center the following year. Her flight experience includes three Space Shuttle missions: STS-91 in 1998, which marked the final Shuttle-Mir docking; STS-99 in 2000, which conducted the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission; and STS-104 in 2001, which involved the installation of the Quest joint airlock on the International Space Station. Over these missions, she completed 535 Earth orbits and traveled more than 13.1 million miles.
Management and Leadership
Following her flight career, Kavandi moved into senior management roles within NASA. She served as the deputy chief of the Astronaut Office from 2005 to 2008 and later as the director of flight crew operations at the Johnson Space Center. In March 2016, she assumed the role of center director at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. She retired from the space agency in September 2019 and subsequently became the president of Sierra Space.
Fast facts
- Born: 1959, Carthage, Missouri
- Education: Missouri Southern State University, Missouri University of Science and Technology, University of Washington
- NASA selection: December 1994
- Space shuttle missions: STS-91, STS-99, STS-104
- Total time in space: Over 33 days
- NASA Glenn Research Center director tenure: 2016–2019
- United States Astronaut Hall of Fame induction: 2019
- Current role: President of Sierra Space
Questions readers ask
Did Janet L. Kavandi perform spacewalks?
Although she trained in the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory for extravehicular activity, she did not conduct a spacewalk during her mission aboard STS-104.
What was Kavandi's role at the NASA Glenn Research Center?
She served as the center director from March 2016 until her retirement from the agency in September 2019.
Achievements
- Educated at University of Washington, Missouri Southern State University and Missouri University of Science and Technology
- Worked as astronaut and chemist
