An IE on the international space station.(NASA Astronaut Office Chief of Robotics Nancy J. Currie)

IIE Solutions, June, 1999 by O'Briant, Erin

As one of the first three people to board the international space station, industrial engineer and astronaut Nancy J. Currie - now chief of the robotics branch of NASA's astronaut office - has a job most people only dream about. Last December she joined the first space station assembly mission on the Space Shuttle Endeavour, where she operated the robotic arm that installed the first part of the station, the U.S.-built Unity connecting module. According to Currie, her ambition to become an astronaut developed as opportunities opened up over the years. But there are deep roots.

"From the time I could walk, I wanted to fly," Currie recalls. "My desire to fly came first, and my desire to become an astronaut came a little later. I was born in '58 and the first...

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