Former astronaut to be inducted into hall of fame
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March 20, 2019
Vinnie Roberts Former astronaut Dr. Janet Kavandi has had a big life. In addition to three space flights over her career and an equally impressive list of managerial credits within NASA, Dr. Kavandi is about to be awarded with one of NASA’s highest honors: induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. While most of these things are a matter of public record, one thing that tends to go unmentioned in her story is her original home: Cassville, Missouri. The seat of Barry County. Dr. Kavandi’s big life began in Springfield, where she was born to parents Bill and Ruth Sellers. The Sellers family lived on a farm just outside of Cassville. According to Kavandi, the time spent growing up under the unpolluted night skies of Barry County were a key component to her dreams of becoming an astronaut. “We had a house outside of town where we raised cattle,” said Dr. Kavandi. “I really loved growing up there. I liked being in the country. I liked looking up at the night sky there, which is part of what I think contributed to me wanting to be in the astronaut program. The stars in the sky there are so much more vibrant than the skies in bigger cities. I grew up seeing that and wondering what it would be like to go up there.” |
 Dr. Janet Kavandi
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