Homegrown astronaut to be honored

Linda Godwin, former NASA astronaut and physicist will be visiting the Cape Girardeau County History Center on Thursday, May 18. The free event is open to the public and will begin at 2 p.m. at the history center located at 102 S. High St. in Jackson.

Carla Jordan, director of the history center, said the event celebrates Godwin as a Cape Girardeau County hero.

"She was an amazing astronaut, and it's important that we celebrate women," Jordan said. "It's important that we celebrate everyday women and extraordinary women, but she's definitely an extraordinary woman."

Jordan said the history center has created an exhibit about Godwin's four space shuttle missions, where she logged over 38 days in space, including two spacewalks.

According to her biography on the NASA website, Godwin is a Jackson High School alum, graduating in 1970 and, in 1974, received a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and physics from Southeast Missouri State University. She also received a Master of Science and a doctorate in physics from the University of Missouri.

During her career, Godwin conducted research in low temperature solid state physics, including studies in electron tunneling and vibrational modes of absorbed molecular species on metallic substrates at liquid helium temperatures. She retired from NASA in August 2010.