Astronaut Susan Helms (Lieutenant General, USAF, Ret.) is a retired Astronaut, Flight Test Engineer and military officer. She received her B.S. in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Air Force Academy in 1980. She also received her M.S in Aero/Astro from Stanford University in 1985 and graduated from the USAF Test Pilot School as a Flight Test Engineer in 1988. Prior to her selection for NASA, Helms had flown in more than 30 US and Canadian aircraft. While at NASA (1990-2002), Helms flew on 5 space missions, including a 5+ month stay on the International Space Station in 2001.