Picture of Hippopotamus Astronaut

Biography

Jolie Prosacco was an American astronaut born on May 19, 1970. She grew up in the United States and showed an early interest in astronomy. She enrolled at the University of California and graduated in astronomy in 1992.


After graduating, she joined NASA and quickly became an experienced astronaut. In 1998, she was chosen to be a member of the STS-99 expedition on the space shuttle Discovery. During this mission, she and her teammates installed the Topex/Poseidon radar system which monitors the world's oceans in order to learn more about climate change.


In 2002, Jolie Prosacco was to take part in her third space mission, but unfortunately she died before takeoff following a long illness that she had been diagnosed with a few years earlier. His death sparked emotional reactions from fellow astronauts and admirers around the world. She will always be known as the first American astronautical hippo to travel in space!