Embry-Riddle's First Astronaut to Pilot NASA's First Microgravity Science Mission
Daytona Beach, Fla., March 17, 1997 -- Susan Still, who is slated to pilot the space shuttle Columbia for the first mission of the Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1), is a graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. The first graduate of Embry-Riddle to become an astronaut, she received a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering from the University's Daytona Beach, Fla., campus in 1982.
 As the second woman to pilot the space shuttle, Still will navigate the spacecraft from its April 3 launch from the Kennedy Space Center through its ascent into space. She also will serve as the medical officer for the seven-member crew during the 16-day mission, repair and maintain Columbia's navigational and scientific testing, and take photographs for NASA's earth observation program.
Four combustion experiments, each focusing on a different aspect of burning, will be conducted aboard the MSL-1. The results of these tests could have important applications in the areas of spacecraft fire safety, hydrogen-burning cars and devices, control of soot as a pollutant, and improvement of soot used in products such as tires, plastic and dry-cell batteries. The crew also will carry out more than 20 other investigations in the areas of biotechnology, fluid physics, and materials science.
 After graduating from Embry-Riddle, Still worked as a wind tunnel engineer for Lockheed Corp., received a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and became a fighter jet flight instructor in the Navy. In 1995, she was selected by NASA for training to be an astronaut.
A second Embry-Riddle graduate following Still is Daniel Burbank, who received a master's degree in aeronautical science from the University's Extended Campus in 1990, and is now undergoing a year of training and evaluation as an astronaut candidate at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.
The world's largest university specializing in aviation and aerospace, Embry-Riddle has campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and an extended campus of over 100 education centers in the U.S. and Europe. Its curriculum covers engineering, research, manufacturing, management, and marketing of modern aircraft and the systems that support them.
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