Letter: When celebrating women and space, Janice Voss is a must

“The Women of Space” 6/18/23 special section from USA Today Network was fascinating, highlighting pioneering astronauts from Valentina Tereshkova on 6/16/63 to Sally Ride on 6/18/83 and beyond.

As a member of the Rockford Women’s Suffrage Plaza steering committee, I’d like to remind all about the importance of NASA astronaut Janice Voss, Ph.D., who grew up in Rockford.

The Women’s Suffrage Centennial Sculpture honoring women’s leadership includes Voss as one of many "foundational women” with distinguished careers. Voss spent over 49 days in space during five space flights through 18.8 million miles, culminating with STS-99’s Shuttle Radar Topography Mission in 2000, which mapped over 47million square miles of Earth’s land surface.

From 2004 to 2007 she was Science Director for the Kepler spacecraft, as part of NASA’s Ames Research Center. After Voss’ 2012 death from cancer, noted astronaut Peggy Whitson — who is included in the special newspaper section — was quoted as chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office for NASA’s obituary:

“Janice and her crew ensured that our space station would be the site of discoveries that we haven’t even imagined.” Whitson added, “During the last few years, Janice continued to lead our office’s efforts to provide the best possible procedures to crews operating experiments on the station today.”

Rockford’s Discovery Center takes great pride in highlighting this inspiring space explorer through their Janice Voss gallery, which has benefited from the astronaut’s many visits, along with items donated by her family.

I encourage visits to the Discovery Center Museum at 711 N. Main St., and to the Rockford Women’s Suffrage Plaza (rockfordsuffrageplaza.com) by the Riverfront YMCA Log Lodge.

While we are saddened that Voss wasn’t included in the special section from USA Today Network, we are inspired by all the women who — as the section title proclaimed — “aimed for the stars.”

Pamela Zoe Norwood, Rockford

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Letter: When celebrating women and space, Janice Voss is a must