Purdue University welcomes professional astronaut and aerospace engineer Beth Moses to its ranks. Moses will begin teaching classes for Fall 2026 as Associate Professor of Engineering Practice in the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AAE).

“Beth will be developing courses in human spaceflight and other topics, primarily for the online Master of Science in Space Systems degree program. These courses will draw on her experience and knowledge from her career at NASA and at Virgin Galactic,” says Bill Crossley, professor and department head for AAE.

Moses, a Purdue alumna, has decades of experience at NASA and in commercial spaceflight. With six suborbital spaceflights, she is the world’s most-flown female astronaut. She became the world’s first female commercial astronaut on a Virgin Galactic flight in 2019, securing her spot on the elite list of Purdue Astronauts. Her astronaut wings are on display in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.

Moses holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree from Purdue AAE. As a student, she was awarded the National Science Foundation’s Microgravity Research Award to conduct materials research in parabolic flight.

Moses joined NASA as an intern and took a permanent position after graduation, eventually rising to manager of the extravehicular activity assembly of the International Space Station (ISS). Her team created and executed underwater worksite evaluations, suited human thermal vacuum testing, glove box testing, fluid line handling evaluations, and tool and connector fit checks.

Topping off her more than 20 years at NASA, Moses was the ISS commercial crew integration manager for Crew Dragon. She developed the first-ever technical requirements and processes for commercial crew vehicles, paving the way for private companies to achieve NASA certification.

She joined Virgin Galactic in 2013 as chief astronaut instructor, training flight crew and passengers for spaceflight. She was also the first human to unbuckle and float around during a suborbital space flight, gaining insights that led to meaningful procedural changes at Virgin Galactic. She flew to space six times as part of her work. Moses was honored as an Outstanding Aerospace Engineer by Purdue AAE in 2018, and as a Distinguished Engineering Alumna by the Purdue College of Engineering in 2025. She is also a recipient of Chicago’s Adler Planetarium annual Women in Space Science Award.