NASA astronaut and UC San Diego alum Jessica Meir, who was one-half of a historic all-woman spacewalk a few years back, will have to add "commencement speaker" to her already impressive resume.
In October 2019, Meir and her friend and colleague Christina Koch made history when they completed a spacewalk to fix a faulty battery; it was the first time in a half-century that a woman floated out without a male crewmate.
Meir, the 228th person in the world to conduct a spacewalk and the 15th woman, will be the commencement speaker at the ceremonies in La Jolla on June 11.
Meir "is a shining example of how ... the Triton spirit can propel you to infinite heights and world-renowned impact," reads the announcement on UC San Diego's website. "While a marine biology student at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Meir researched the physiology of diving mammals and birds. Today, she is internationally recognized as one of the two NASA astronauts who made history performing the first all-woman spacewalk, she lived in space for 205 days, made 3,280 orbits of Earth traveling 86.9 million miles, and currently is poised to be one of the first women on the moon."
At the time of her spacewalk, Meir was at the International Space Station since Sept. 25,in her first-trip to outer space. During her six-month mission, she conducted experiments in biology, biotechnology, physical science and Earth science inside a microgravity laboratory.
Meir studied diving physiology at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego and, according to school officials, holds a doctorate in marine biology from the school.
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KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir waves before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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Members of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) (from L) United Arab Emirates' astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Russian cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka and US astronaut Jessica Meir report to Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin (R) arrive to board a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
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International Space Station (ISS) crew member, NASA's US astronaut Jessica Meir waves as she boards the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft before its blasts off for the ISS, on September 25, 2019 at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. (Photo by Maxim SHIPENKOV / POOL / AFP) (Photo credit should read MAXIM SHIPENKOV/AFP/Getty Images)
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KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew members, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (L-R) before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir during a spacesuit check before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir salutes people from a bus before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
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KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir during a spacesuit check before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir has her spacesuit tested before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
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Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir has her spacesuit tested before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
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Member of the main crew to the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir has her spacesuit tested before boarding a Soyuz rocket to the ISS, at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew member, NASA astronaut Jessica Meir during a spacesuit check before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew members, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (L-R) before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
BAIKONUR, KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: ISS Expedition 61/62 main crew members, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir (L-R) before a launch to the International Space Station from the Gagarin's Start pad at the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The launch of Expedition 61/62 aboard the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft to the ISS is scheduled for 25 September 2019 at 16:57 Moscow time. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
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Crew member of the International Space Station (ISS) US astronaut Jessica Meir waves from inside a bus during a farewell ceremony outside the Cosmonauts' hotel on his way to the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 25, 2019. - Al Mansouri will make history by becoming the first Arab on the International Space Station said he had received support from around the world before his "dream" mission. (Photo by Vyacheslav OSELEDKO / AFP) (Photo credit should read VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)
Sergei Savostyanov/TASS
KAZAKHSTAN SEPTEMBER 25, 2019: A Soyuz-FG rocket booster blasts off from Gagarin's Start at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, carrying the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft with ISS Expedition 61/62 prime crewmembers onboard, the United Arab Emirates' first astronaut Hazza Al Mansouri, Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Skripochka, and NASA astronaut Jessica Meir. It will be the last launch of a Soyuz-FG rocket booster that is to be replaced with Soyuz-2.1a rockets. Sergei Savostyanov/TASS (Photo by Sergei SavostyanovTASS via Getty Images)
Before receiving her doctorate in marine biology at UC San Diego, Meir studied biology at Brown University and attended the International Space University in France. She worked for three years at NASA's Johnson Space Center to research how humans' physiology changes in space.
When Meir was 5 years old, she was asked to draw a picture of what she wanted to be when she grew up. The drawing, she recalls, was a photo of an astronaut on the moon with an American Flag behind her. Now, she is that astronaut.
American astronauts Jessica Meir and Christina Koch made history Friday with NASA’s first all-female spacewalk. The astronauts walked outside the International Space Station to replace a faulty battery.
