Born in St Paul, Minnesota, the mechanical engineer and naval officer became an astronaut at the Johnson Space Center in 1996. She is a veteran of two space flights: space shuttle Atlantis (STS-115) in 2006, when she made two space walks that completed truss installation on the International Space Station; and space shuttle Endeavour, STS-126, in 2008 as mission specialist, when she and led three of four space walks (during one of which she lost a tool bag in space). Stefanyshyn-Piper has logged over 27 days in space and 33 hours and 42 minutes of EVA in five space walks. She retired from NASA in July 2009 to return to the US Navy at the Naval Sea Systems Command in Washington, DC.