Margaret Rhea Seddon

Margaret Rhea Seddon (born November 8, 1947) is a physician and retired NASA astronaut. After being selected as part of the first group of astronauts to include women, she flew on three Space Shuttle flights: as mission specialist for STS-51-D and STS-40, and as payload commander for STS-58. Both before and after her career in the astronaut program, she has been active in the medical community in Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas. Seddon was born ... more

Margaret Rhea Seddon (born November 8, 1947) is a physician and retired NASA astronaut. After being selected as part of the first group of astronauts to include women, she flew on three Space Shuttle flights: as mission specialist for STS-51-D and STS-40, and as payload commander for STS-58. Both before and after her career in the astronaut program, she has been active in the medical community in Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas. Seddon was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. She graduated from Central High School in Murfreesboro in 1965. She received a bachelor of arts degree in physiology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1970, and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 1973. While at the University of California, Berkeley Seddon was a member of Sigma Kappa sorority. After medical school, Dr. Seddon completed a surgical internship and 3 years of a general surgery residency in Memphis with a particular interest in nutrition in... less