Articles in memory of Janice Voss:

Astronaut and Former Kepler Science Office Director Janice Voss Remembered. (NASA website) Excerpt: NASA astronaut Janice Voss passed away Feb. 6, 2012, after a courageous battle with cancer. One of only six women who have flown in space five times, Voss’ career was highlighted by her work and dedication to scientific payloads and exploration.
…In her role, Voss was responsible for coordinating science activities for the Kepler mission. In particular, Voss was responsible for coordinating the efforts to generate the Kepler target catalog, an extensive pre-launch ground survey of the space telescope's field-of-view for stars similar to the sun.
Voss also helped establish the original guest observer office and in the planning of the follow-up observation program for the mission.
"Janice had tremendous passion about her work and her personal interests," said Marcie Smith, Kepler mission director at Ames. "She always thoroughly researched the task at hand to arrive at the best logical decision. She loved to encourage interest in Kepler and the manned space program with public talks and lectures." Voss will be remembered for the team spirit she brought from her days in the Astronaut Office. One such instance was a suggestion that the Kepler managers buy ribbons to distribute among the team in appreciation of individual contributions. These ribbons can be seen pinned to the walls of the Kepler team members today in recognition of their work.
"Whenever anyone mentioned a science fiction story, Janice would pull out a small notebook that she carried to see if she had already read the story," recalls Kepler principal investigator William Borucki at Ames. "If she hadn't read the story, it would quickly be added to her list to read."

2012 Feb 8. Our View: Janice Voss' spirit should be celebrated in Rockford. Rockford Register Star. Excerpt: Somewhere in the Rock River Valley some boy or girl is dreaming about becoming an astronaut, to fly into space and see the wonder of the planet Earth. Janice Voss showed that those dreams can come true. Voss, one of only six women who have flown in space five times, died Monday. She was 55. Voss considered Rockford her hometown even though she only lived here from 1960 to 1967. She attended Maud Johnson and Guilford Center schools and credits her teachers for putting her on the academic path that would eventually lead her to NASA. …Voss also was a lesson in perseverance. “I applied four times to be an astronaut, and they didn’t even interview me the first, second and third times,” she said in the March 28, 1992, Rockford Register Star. She kept trying and became one of the most successful astronauts in history.

2012 Feb 9. Janice Voss, Shuttle Astronaut and Scientist, Dies at 55. By Dennis Hevesi, New York Times. Excerpt: Janice Voss, a space shuttle astronaut and scientist who explored the behavior of fire in weightlessness, how plants adapt to extraterrestrial flight and an array of other phenomena while logging nearly 19 million miles circling Earth, died on Monday at a hospital in Scottsdale, Ariz. She was 55 and lived in Houston.

2012 Feb 8. Janice Voss, veteran of 5 space shuttle flights, dies at 55. By Robert Z. Pearlman, MSNBC. Excerpt: Astronaut Janice Voss, a veteran of five spaceflights and a former science director for a NASA exoplanet-hunting spacecraft, has died after a battle with cancer. She was 55. …Chosen by NASA for the astronaut corps in January 1990, Voss served as mission specialist on five space shuttle missions, including the only repeat flight in the shuttle program's 30-year history. She flew with the first commercial laboratory, rendezvoused with Russia's Mir space station and helped create the most complete digital topographic map of the Earth. …In total, Voss logged over 49 days in space, traveling 18.8 million miles while circling the Earth 779 times. Her five missions tied her with the record for the most spaceflights by a woman.

See Janice Voss’ complete biography.

Hear podcasts of Janet Voss:

• "A Scientist in Space" and "Searching for Earth-like Planets: NASA's Kepler Mission" (mp3 file, 8.7 MB) March 7, 2007. Silicon Valley Lecture series.
• "Night Sky Network Conference Dec 2005 .

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