Astronaut Janice E. Voss, a Purdue University graduate and one of the few women launched into space, died Monday in Scottsdale, Ariz., after a battle with breast cancer. She was 55.
Voss was part of five space shuttle missions, spending a total of 49 days in space, traveling 18.8 million miles in 779 Earth orbits, according to NASA.
She was Purdue's first female astronaut, receiving her bachelor's degree in engineering science in 1975.
Those at Purdue and fellow astronauts who knew Voss remembered her smile, joy of space and inspirational outlook.
Purdue President France C?rdova, former chief scientist for NASA, said she had been trying to talk Voss into joining Purdue as a teacher and researcher once she decided to leave the astronaut corps.
C?rdova, who joined Voss on several campus and Houston alumni events, said the astronaut always wore a brightly colored striped sweater, even when everyone else was dressed in dark suits.
"She was gentle, inquisitive and alert. She really cared about Purdue and valued her engineering education here," C?rdova said. "Her death came as a shock to us as we did not know about her cancer."
Voss became an astronaut in 1991, one of 23 Purdue graduates selected for space flight.
Her first spaceflight mission came in 1993. In 1995, she was part of a mission to the Mir space station. During her final mission in 2000, more than 47 million square miles of Earth's land surface was mapped.
Astronaut Jerry Ross, a Purdue graduate and space walker, said Voss was a good friend and an extremely talented person.
"She always had a pleasant smile and loved to tackle challenging problems. She was dedicated to our country's space program and equally dedicated to encouraging America's youth to pursue careers in the space program," he said in an email.
"Janice was very proud of her Indiana heritage and her Purdue University education. I will miss her friendship and her smile."
Angela Phillips Diaz, managing director of Purdue University's Global Policy Research Institute, worked at NASA previously and came to know Voss.
"She had a quiet style that was a powerful inspiration," Diaz said. "She shared at Christmastime how honored she was to be part of the final shuttle mission last year, and she found a special joy in sharing the wonder and excitement of space travel with students."
In the past few years Voss visited the West Lafayette campus a few times. Once was in 2009, when she added her papers and other mementos to Purdue Library's Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives.
"I remember walking through Grissom Hall and being inspired by all of the people who came before me," Voss said during that visit.
John Norberg, author of Purdue history books, including "Wings of Their Dreams: Purdue in Flight," said the last time he talked with Voss they discussed aviator Amelia Earhart and the impact she had on Purdue students and others in the 1930s. Voss, he said, was inspiring to students, especially women to pursue their goals in engineering.
"Janice was the Amelia Earhart of her time," he said.
From 2004 to 2007, Voss was the science director for the Kepler spacecraft at NASA's Ames Research Center. Voss most recently served as the payloads lead of the Astronaut Office's Station Branch.
"As the payload commander of two space shuttle missions, Janice was responsible for paving the way for experiments that we now perform on a daily basis on the International Space Station," Peggy Whitson, chief of NASA's Astronaut Office, said in a statement.
During the 2007 dedication of Purdue's Neil Armstrong Hall of Engineering, Voss said her relationship with Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, and the other astronauts was not affected by gender.
"It's just about being part of a great team and being good at what you do," she said.
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