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Mary Ellen Weber

Chemist and champion skydiver from Bedford Heights who flew on the 'All-Ohio' STS-70 shuttle mission in 1995, among the youngest astronauts to fly, and on the STS-101 space station repair flight in 2000.

Born August 24, 1962, Cleveland

Mary Ellen Weber
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
August 24, 1962, Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) source
Also known as
Mary E. Weber, Mary Weber
Known as
Aviation Space, Science Engineering, Business, Sports

Mary Ellen Weber is living. This page covers their public life only, from published sources. Correct this page · hello@crackedbuckeye.com

Life story

Mary Ellen Weber was born in Cleveland in 1962, grew up in Bedford Heights, and graduated from Bedford High School in 1980. She studied chemical engineering at Purdue (1984), interning at Ohio Edison, Delco Electronics and 3M, took a doctorate in physical chemistry at Berkeley (1988), and developed chip-making processes at Texas Instruments, SEMATECH and Applied Materials, earning a patent for a wafer gas distributor. NASA selected her in 1992; on STS-70 in July 1995, one of the four Ohioans aboard the 'All-Ohio' flight, she checked out and helped send off the TDRS-G communications satellite and grew colon cancer tissue in a bioreactor, and on STS-101 in May 2000 she flew the robot arm during a space station repair and resupply mission. She left NASA in 2002, spent nine years as vice president for government affairs at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, and founded a consulting firm, Stellar Strategies, in 2012. She is also a competition skydiver with thousands of jumps, U.S. national medals and a share of a 300-person world-record formation.

Ohio ties

  • Cleveland (1962)
    birthplace Cuyahoga County · source
  • Bedford Heights (childhood-1980)
    hometown; graduated from Bedford High School in 1980 Cuyahoga County · source
  • Ohio (Ohio Edison) (c. 1980-1984)
    engineering intern at Ohio Edison while a Purdue undergraduate (location not stated) source
  • Cleveland (2008)
    among the Ohio astronauts gathered in Cleveland on August 29, 2008 for NASA's 50th anniversary Cuyahoga County · source

Timeline

  1. 1962 Born August 24 in Cleveland; she was raised in Bedford Heights. source
  2. 1980 Graduated from Bedford High School. source
  3. 1984 Graduated with honors in chemical engineering from Purdue University, after internships at Ohio Edison, Delco Electronics and 3M. source
  4. 1988 Earned a Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley, studying gas-phase reactions involving silicon, then joined Texas Instruments. source
  5. 1992 Selected by NASA with the 14th group of astronauts. source
  6. 1992 On December 29 she and Daniel White Jr. were granted U.S. Patent 5,174,825, 'Uniform gas distributor to a wafer,' assigned to Texas Instruments. source
  7. 1995 Flew on STS-70 Discovery (July 13-22), the 'All-Ohio' mission; she checked out the TDRS-G satellite before deployment, was crew medical officer and contingency spacewalker, and grew colon cancer tissue in a bioreactor. source
  8. 2000 Flew on STS-101 Atlantis (May 19-29), a space station repair flight, operating the 60-foot robot arm to move a spacewalker and directing the transfer of more than 3,000 pounds of equipment. source
  9. 2002 Earned an MBA from Southern Methodist University and resigned from NASA in December; that year she was part of a world-record 300-person freefall formation. source
  10. 2009 Commended by the Texas House of Representatives (H.R. 1113, April 2) as an astronaut, scientist and UT Southwestern vice president, and honored in October with Purdue's Outstanding Chemical Engineer Award. source
  11. 2012 Founded STELLAR Strategies, LLC, a consulting firm, after nine years as vice president for government affairs and policy at UT Southwestern Medical Center. source
  12. 2015 Listed as 'Mary Ellen Weber of Bedford Heights' among Ohio's 25 astronauts in Ohio House Resolution 28. source

Stories

From skydiving to the astronaut corps

Weber took up skydiving as a Purdue undergraduate, about the time she first thought of becoming an astronaut, and only learned to fly airplanes after graduate school. In a NASA interview before STS-101 she said the sport was exhilarating and always had another challenge around the corner, which was what drew her to both aviation and science. She described a 300-person world-record attempt in Russia that failed because some jumpers did not reach their slots before time ran out; in 2002 she was part of a 300-skydiver formation that did set the record. By 2018 NASA credited her with nearly 5,000 skydives and 13 silver and bronze medals at the U.S. National Skydiving Championships.

Source

Cancer tissue on the woodpecker flight

On STS-70, the 1995 'All-Ohio' flight delayed by woodpeckers pecking at Discovery's fuel tank, Weber ran the Bioreactor Development System, a Johnson Space Center device that grew colon cancer cells in microgravity. NASA reported that the experiment worked very well and produced tissue cultures better than any seen before, and Weber became a NASA spokesperson on space biotechnology. She also checked the TDRS-G satellite's systems before it was sent toward its orbit 22,000 miles above the equator. The Texas House later noted she was the 30th woman to fly in space and one of the youngest astronauts in history.

Source

The best of times, the worst of times

Weber trained for more than a year for one station flight, then NASA rearranged its schedule to send a revised mission, called 2A.2a, to the young International Space Station, whose batteries were failing after more than a year without a visit. Three of her crewmates were replaced with new ones on short notice. Before launch she told NASA it was the best of times and the worst of times: thrilling to go to the station, a real disappointment to leave behind the crewmates she had trained with. On STS-101 in May 2000 she flew the robot arm to move a spacewalker along the station and directed the transfer of more than 3,000 pounds of gear.

Source

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

12

Ohio places

Where Mary Ellen Weber was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • The STS-70 astronauts enjoy an early morning breakfast in the Operations and Checkout building, prior to suiting up and
    The STS-70 astronauts enjoy an early morning breakfast in the Operations and Checkout building, prior to suiti...
    Public domain
  • In the Operations and Checkout Building, the STS-101 crew gathers for a snack before suiting up for launch. From left ar
    In the Operations and Checkout Building, the STS-101 crew gathers for a snack before suiting up for launch. Fr...
    Public domain
  • 22 astronauts and Johnson Space Center's first female director, Carolyn Huntoon, met in the fall of 2012 to honor the la
    22 astronauts and Johnson Space Center's first female director, Carolyn Huntoon, met in the fall of 2012 to ho...
    Public domain
  • DATE: 9-17-12 LOCATION: Villa Capri Restaurant SUBJECT: Gathering of former and current female astronauts. PHOTOGRAPHER:
    DATE: 9-17-12 LOCATION: Villa Capri Restaurant SUBJECT: Gathering of former and current female astronauts. PHO...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Mary E. Weber, mission specialist
    Astronaut Mary E. Weber, mission specialist
    Public domain
  • Mary Ellen Weber in 2014
    Mary Ellen Weber in 2014
    Public domain
  • Photo of NASA astronaut group 14, announced 1992.
    Photo of NASA astronaut group 14, announced 1992.
    Public domain
  • An all-star gathering of legendary American astronauts appeared in Cleveland August 29, 2008 to celebrate NASA's 50th an
    An all-star gathering of legendary American astronauts appeared in Cleveland August 29, 2008 to celebrate NASA...
    Public domain
  • Meri Veber
    Meri Veber
    Public domain
  • Six astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut take a break from training for the STS-101 mission to pose for a crew portrait. S
    Six astronauts and a Russian cosmonaut take a break from training for the STS-101 mission to pose for a crew p...
    Public domain
  • The crew assigned to the STS-70 mission included (front left to right) Kevin R. Kregel, pilot; Nancy J. Currie, mission
    The crew assigned to the STS-70 mission included (front left to right) Kevin R. Kregel, pilot; Nancy J. Currie...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Mary E. Weber floats in the middeck in a yoga position during STS-70
    Astronaut Mary E. Weber floats in the middeck in a yoga position during STS-70
    Askeuhd / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sources

Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.

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