photo credit: NASAMy doppleganger, Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson, is onboard her third shuttle flight, STS-131, which launched on 5 April 2010. I worked with her on the Galileo Mission to Jupiter in the 1990s. She is the second black female to enter space, following Mae Jamison in the 1980s.
I'd hired on a few years before she did. I was amused to learn that people were calling her by my name, since we looked similar. The tables turned in 1996 when she was selected to become an astronaut; now people were calling ME "Stephanie". It happened so often that one Halloween at work, I dressed up as her. Stephanie laughed when I told her about it.
A few former Galileo coworkers had the chance to have dinner with her after STS-120, her first flight. She said that she was so busy, she'd forget to look out the window. One of the other specialists would point out "Hey, we're flying over Egypt". I understand the sentiment; I don't always look out the window on a gorgeous Southern California day, either.
I was fortunate enough to be invited to the launch of STS-131, but had to decline when the launch slipped into the time where I would be on call for work.
Good luck, Stephanie!
