By Prachi Mishra
NASA released a statement on August 29 to mark the retirement of Megan McArthur from her NASA career that spans over two decades as an astronaut and spacecraft pilot. McArthur has a recorded history with 213 days in space, throughout her career, she made several contributions to exploration, leadership, and science.
The robotic arm of the shuttle was being operated by her, and this was also marked as the last mission of the Hubble Space Telescope in regards with rescuing. Due to this, McArthur was the last individual to physically touch Hubble, making history.
McArthur was tasked with the role of pilot on the SpaceX Crew-2 mission, which was her second Crew Spacecraft flight. With this flight, she became the first female pilot of the SpaceX Dragon. Since 2019, she has been involved in the operations of the International Space Station’s missions and has been responsible for advanced training and mission readiness of NASA’s astronauts. Since 2019, she has been the deputy chief of the astronaut division of the NASA Astronaut Office. In the year 2017, she took the role of the assistant director for ISS flight operations. And by 2022, she was promoted as the chief science officer at Space Center Houston, NASA Johnson’s official visitor center, where she encourages STEM education and illustrates the benefits of space exploration for society.
Born in Honolulu, McArthur moved from one place to another around the world during her early years because of her parents’ having a military background. Before her selection as an astronaut, she worked as an oceanographer, conducting fieldwork and specialising in underwater acoustics and field surveys.
Robert Behnken, an astronaut himself, is married to her and both have spoken extensively about the future of space exploration. McArthur’s retirement brings to a close an era defined by no leadership, no care for the young, no concern for the students, no innovation, and no strife for the technology in question, a deep and abiding knowledge of the technology at their disposal.