MAINE, USA — Mainer and astronaut Jessica Meir has landed...on TIME Magazine's list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2020.
Meir shared the news on social media Wednesday with photos of her and Christina Koch, the astronaut with whom she made the first all-female spacewalk, framed in the iconic TIME Magazine red border. The women share a spot on the list.
TIME's write-up of the women was written by former astronaut Mae Jemison, who was the first Black woman in space.
There will be eight special magazine covers for the occasion. Those on the cover include: Dr. Anthony Fauci, Black Lives Matter founders Patrisse Cullors Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi, COVID-19 frontline nurse Amy O'Sullivan, performer Megan Thee Stallion, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, The Weeknd, actress Gabrielle Union and athlete Dwyane Wade, the President of Taiwan Tsai Ing-wen.
To top off Meir's historical week, the NASA astronaut tweeted Friday to celebrate the one year anniversary of when made her first journey to space.
Meir arrived aboard the International Space Station on September 25, 2019, and spent 29 weeks in orbit. She was later joined by York, Maine native Chris Cassidy on April 9, 2020. That also marked the first time two Mainers lived in space at once.
Meir returned to an Earth very different from the one she left. But, even with the coronavirus pandemic, Meir told Stephen Colbert just days before her return that, "It will be great to see everybody on the ground again, even if it is from a distance."
But before she was able to socially distance with the rest of us, Dr. Meir made a Hollywood connection.
To prepare actress Hilary Swank for her role in Netflix's new sci-fi drama Away, the streaming service arranged for Swank to speak with Meir back in February. The interview was released on September 9.
Watch the interview below:
