Moon-bound astronaut Stephanie Wilson provides inspiration for hopeful astronomers at

Jay Pasachoff can recall waking up in the middle of the night to watch preliminary space flights in the 1960s, as NASA scientists attempted to land the first astronauts on the moon.

He remembers those first fateful steps too, in 1969 when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took “one small step for man, and one giant leap for mankind.”

Over 50 years later, Pasachoff, professor of astronomy at Williams College, shares a book with his students on the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 70s signed by many of the astronauts who performed the daring missions. But in the near future, he will tell them about someone he knows more personally treading that same surface: Pittsfield native Stephanie Wilson.

In fact, he’s working Wilson into lesson plans for the semester starting this week.

“I’ll be sure to use her example to inspire them,” Pasachoff said.

Wilson, a former Pittsfield resident and graduate of Taconic High School, was selected to be part of the Artemis missions, a set of space flights that will send the first woman and first person of color to the moon’s surface within the next decade. The space flights are meant to re-establish NASA’s presence on the moon and provide a “stepping-stone on the way to Mars.”

An unmanned flight for the spacecraft Artemis I was recently delayed due to concerns of hydrogen leaks. The launch will be delayed by a few weeks, if not months, according to officials.

The first manned flight of the program, Artemis II, is expected in 2024, which will send a crew of astronauts around the moon. Lunar landings are expected to occur as part of the Artemis III missions to follow.

Wilson has been to space three times before this, spending a total of 42 days in orbit, a record for Black American astronauts. This would be her first space flight since 2010. Her previous trips to space saw her visit the International Space Station.

Wilson is also one of the subjects of the ‘Black Abundance’ mural that was unveiled on Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield for Juneteenth this year highlighting Black figures in Pittsfield’s history.

Pasachoff recalls that Wilson first came to visit him when she was about 12 years old, with multiple questions about astronomy prepared for him. Since then, the two have remained in touch throughout her career. He said he was “pleased and honored” to hear that she had been selected to join the astronaut corps in 1996.

Pasachoff has been to each of her three launches into space since then. He’s brought some of his students along for the ride, too.

As an astronomer, Pasachoff is excited simply to have people returning to the moon but is thrilled to know that Wilson has this unique opportunity. Having someone from Berkshire County involved with these flights to lofty heights is an important motivator for his students.

“Our young people can be inspired to buckle down when they know that real people are out there exploring the solar system,” Pasachoff said. “I hope it makes all the students know that under the right circumstances, they could be asked to go to the moon, too.”

Wilson has honorary degrees from Williams College, Smith College and the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts; she graduated from Harvard University and received her master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas-Austin.

Pasachoff said that Wilson’s achievements have been an inspiration to him and his students and that he hopes as many people know about them as possible.

“I certainly hope people the world around, not just Berkshire County, know about Stephanie and the wonderful things she’s been doing,” Pasachoff said.