Astronaut Lisa Nowak Attended Charles W. Woodward High School in Rockville

Lisa Nowak, a 1981 graduate of Charles W. Woodward High School, is among the seven astronauts who will participate in the space shuttle mission of Discovery STS-121, scheduled to launch on Saturday, July 1.

Nowak grew up in Rockville, Maryland. She attended the U.S. Naval Academy, where she majored in aerospace engineering. After graduate study in aerospace engineering and participation in Navy flight school, she was selected for the Navy Test Pilot School, and subsequently for the space shuttle program at NASA.

Among Nowak’s responsibilities on the shuttle mission will be the operation of the robotic arm used from inside the shuttle during three scheduled spacewalks. This will be her first flight as an astronaut.

Woodward High School closed in 1987. The building now houses Tilden Middle School, at 11211 Old Georgetown Road in Rockville.

More information about Lisa Nowak is available on the NASA Web site.