A Missouri native and astronaut has been nominated for induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Dr. Janet Kavandi was born in southwest Missouri’s Springfield and grew up in Cassville and Carthage.
Dr. Janet Kavandi
Kavandi was selected as a NASA astronaut in 1994 as a member of the 15th class of U.S. astronauts. She has served on three space flights, logging more than 33 days in space and orbiting the Earth 535 times. During her time in the astronaut office, she supported the International Space Station payload integration, capsule communications and robotics and served as deputy chief.
Kavandi is the director of NASA’s John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland where she is responsible for planning, organizing and directing the activities required in accomplishing the missions assigned to the center. The Glenn staff consists of more than 3,200 civil service and support contractor employees and has an annual budget of approximately $625 million. Her center is affected by the federal government shutdown.
Kavandi was also a part of NASA’s 2017 total eclipse broadcast in Jefferson City. The Capital City was one of the communities considered as one of the best viewing places during the historic event.
Kavandi is a graduate of Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and Missouri S & T in Rolla.
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