Jessica Wittner ( Owens; born March 29, 1983) is a lieutenant commander in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

and

NASA astronaut The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...

Life

Wittner is a native of California with a distinguished career serving on active duty as a naval aviator and test pilot. As a teenager she joined the

Naval Sea Cadet Corps The United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps (USNSCC or NSCC) is a congressionally chartered, U.S. Navy–sponsored organization that serves to involve individuals in the sea-going military services, U.S. naval operations and training, community se ...

, where she attained the highest rank, Chief Petty Officer. She holds a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

, and a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. Wittner was commissioned as a naval officer through an enlisted-to-officer program and has served operationally flying

F/A-18 The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

fighter jets with Strike Fighter Squadron 34 based out of

Naval Air Station Oceana Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. The station is located on 23.9 square kilometers. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mi ...

in Virginia, and Strike Fighter Squadron 151 based out of

Naval Air Station Lemoore Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County, California, Kings County and Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, California, Lemoore Station, a cen ...

, not far from where she grew up in Central California. A graduate of U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, she also worked as a test pilot and project officer with Air Test and Evaluation Squadron 31 at

Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS) China Lake is a large military installation in California that supports the research, testing and evaluation programs of the United States Navy. It is part of Navy Region Southwest under Commander, Navy Instal ...

in California. On December 6, 2021, Wittner was formally announced as a NASA astronaut candidate with

NASA Astronaut Group 23 NASA Astronaut Group 23 (nicknamed The Flies) was announced on December 6, 2021, with the class reporting for duty in January 2022. Twelve astronaut candidates were selected, including seven men and five women. History NASA announced the creat ...

. In 2023, Wittner participated in the ESA PANGAEA training organized by the

European Space Agency The European Space Agency (ESA) is a 23-member International organization, international organization devoted to space exploration. With its headquarters in Paris and a staff of around 2,547 people globally as of 2023, ESA was founded in 1975 ...

, held between Italy ( Bletterbach canyon), Germany ( Noerdlingen-Ries crater) and Spain (

Lanzarote Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands, off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the islands in the archipelago. With 163,230 inhabi ...

Island) together with the colleagues

Thomas Pesquet Thomas Gautier Pesquet (; born 27 February 1978) is a French aerospace engineer, aviator, pilot, European Space Agency astronaut, actor, musician, and writer. Pesquet was selected by ESA as a candidate in May 2009, and he successfully completed ...

and Takuya Onishi.

References

American women astronauts United States Navy astronauts Female United States Navy officers University of Arizona alumni 1983 births Living people {{Astronaut-stub