INNOVATION

Jessica Meir

NASA astronaut

As the coronavirus pandemic raged in April 2020, Jewish NASA astronaut Jessica Meir and her colleagues returned to earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Prior to her departure from the station, Meir joked, “I think I will feel more isolated on Earth than here,” after learning about social distancing restrictions at home. Meir spent a total of 205 days in space, tweeting on two separate occasions about her father’s Middle Eastern heritage while aboard the ISS. She is the fourth Jewish woman and 15th Jewish astronaut overall to fly in space. Meir joined the crew of the International Space Station in September 2019, becoming part of the first-ever female spacewalking team the following month. (Photo: Wikimedia / Creative Commons License)