Joni Comstock collection on Janice Voss

Collection — Box: Box 1

Identifier: MSA 309

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection relates to Janice Voss' involvement with her first space flight, STS-57 (in 1993). Included are three photographs of the mission, an autographed mission t-shirt, and a letter written by Voss to Comstock. These materials would be useful to researchers interested in the history of NASA flight missions, women in space, women in STEM fields, and space research.

Dates

Creation: 1993-1993
Other: Date acquired: 11/08/2012

Creator

Comstock, Joni B. (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyrights belong to Purdue University per deed of gift.

Biographical or Historical Information

Dr. Janice Voss was born on October 8, 1956 to James and Louise Voss in South Bend, Indiana. Voss attended Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, Massachusetts and graduated from Purdue University with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering Science in 1975. She then earned a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering, and a Doctorate in Aeronautics/Astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 and 1987, respectively. Having worked on computer simulations and as a crew trainer at the NASA Johnson Space Center during her graduate studies, Voss took a position at the Orbital Sciences Corporation upon completing her doctorate, where she was involved with mission integration and flight operations. In January 1990, Voss was selected by NASA to become an astronaut, and qualified as a mission specialist in July 1991. She flew on five space flights from 1993 until 2000, including the STS-57, STS-63, STS-83, STS-94 and STS-99, having logged a total of 49 days and 18.8 million miles in space. From 2004 to 2007, Voss was the Science Director for the Kepler spacecraft at the NASA Ames Research Center. Most recently, she served as Payloads Lead of the Astronaut Office Station Branch. Janice Voss died of breast cancer in February 2012.

Biographical Information

Dr. Joni Comstock has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to advancing women's collegiate sports. Comstock earned her undergraduate degree in health and physical education from Eastern Illinois University in 1979. She earned her masters in education and sports management at Illinois State University and completed her doctorate in administration of higher education in 1987 at University of Illinois.

Comstock worked in collegiate athletics and administration at several universities. Her career started at University of Illinois (1983-1989). After leaving Illinois, she spent 11 years at Purdue Univeristy, eventually earning the title of Senior Associate Athletics Director. She also spent time at American University and University of North Carolina Asheville.

In 2006, Comstock joined the NCAA leadership team as the Senior Vice President of Championships and senior woman administrator. She oversees 84 NCAA championships, media coordination and statistics, rules, ticketing, marketing, and publicity.