NASA astronaut Jessica Watkins is the first Black woman to live and work on the International Space Station. Recently, she published her post-doctoral Mars research in JGR: Planets, prior to heading to the International Space Station.

According to the website, The Journal of Geophysical Research (JGR): Planets is dedicated to the publication of research in the field of planetary science. Eos is the science news magazine published by Advancing Earth and Space Science (AGU). The Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets is dedicated to the publication of research in the field of planetary science.

Watkins is a NASA astronaut, planetary geologist, and lead author of the manuscript accepted for publication in JGR: Planets, entitled “Burial and exhumation of sedimentary rocks revealed by the base Stimson erosional unconformity, Gale crater, Mars”.

Dr. Watkins recently arrived at the International Space Station as part of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 and is serving as a Mission Specialist on the mission that will last around 6 months. We recently spoke with Dr. Watkins about her career path and the path to publication in JGR: Planets.

Watkins grew up in Lafayette, Colorado, and studied geology at Stanford University, and the University of California, Los Angeles. As a geologist, she studied the surface of Mars and was a science team collaborator at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, working on the Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity. She also was selected as a NASA astronaut in 2017, and this is her first trip to space.

Last week I had the honor of harvesting the plants we've been growing as part of the XROOTS experiment, which uses hydroponic and aeroponic techniques to grow crops without soil. Just one of the many ways we use the @Space_Station as a testbed for future exploration! pic.twitter.com/YZyK4SgdEa

— Jessica Watkins (@astro_watkins) July 8, 2022