Purdue Grad Moves Closer to Potential Space Mission

A Purdue University alumna is one of 11 NASA candidates who will graduate during ceremonies Friday morning at Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Following the ceremony, Loral O’Hara will be eligible for missions to the space station and spaceflight to the moon and Mars. 

O’Hara, who graduated from Purdue in 2009, spent two years completing training in spacewalking, robotics and the systems used on the International Space Station. 

In 2017 O’Hara was named a NASA astronaut candidate, chosen from more than 18,000 applicants. 

As a student at Purdue, O’Hara was part of the first all-female team in the rocket propulsion facilities at Purdue’s Maurice Zucrow Laboratory, according to the university. 

O’Hara is the third Purdue alumna to graduate the program.