Dr. Sandra H. Magnus, Astronaut

NASA

BS Physics, 1986

MS Electrical Engineering, 1990

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Dr. Magnus reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. She completed two years of training and evaluation and is qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist. From January 1997 through May 1998 Dr. Magnus worked in the Astronaut Office Payloads/Habitability Branch. Her duties involved working with ESA, NASDA and Brazil on science freezers, glove boxes and other facility type payloads. In May 1998, Dr. Magnus was assigned as a "Russian Crusader" which involved traveling to Russia in support of hardware testing and operational products development. In August 2000, she served as a CAPCOM for the International Space Station. In August 2001, she was assigned to STS-112. In October 2002, Dr. Magnus flew aboard STS-112. In completing her first space flight she logged a total of 10 days, 19 hours, and 58 minutes in space. Dr. Magnus is currently working with the Canadian Space Agency to prepare the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator for installation on the ISS. She is also involved in return to flight activities.

During 1986 to 1991, Magnus worked for McDonnell Douglas Aircraft Company as a stealth engineer where she worked on internal research and development studying the effectiveness of RADAR signature reduction techniques. She was also assigned to the Navy's A-12 Attack Aircraft program primarily working on the propulsion system until the program was cancelled. From 1991 to 1996, Magnus completed her thesis work which was supported by NASA-Lewis Research Center through a Graduate Student Fellowship and involved investigations on materials of interest for "Scandate" thermionic cathodes.

Dr. Magnus received a bachelor degree in physics and a master degree in electrical engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1986 and 1990, respectively, and a doctorate from the School of Material Science and Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1996. Dr. Magnus is a member of  ASM/TMS (Metallurgical/Material Society), Material Research Society.