This Day in History: October 8, 1956: Janice Voss born in South Bend

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) - On Oct. 8, 1956, astronaut Janice Voss was born in South Bend.

Voss became interested in space when she was six years old and checked out the book “A Wrinkle in Time” from her local library, according to her mother. She later took a copy of the book on his first mission to space.

Voss graduated from high school at 15 and earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Purdue University three years later. She was selected to train as an astronaut in 1990.

Over her career, she traveled to space five times and logged more than 48 days in space. She was honored with multiple awards, including four NASA space flight medals.

She died in 2012 at age 55 from breast cancer. NASA posthumously named a cargo spacecraft at the International Space Station in her honor.