Former Space Shuttle Mechanic Competes For Mrs. Senior Oklahoma

One of Oklahoma's Own helped build two of America's space shuttles, and now she's a contestant in the upcoming Mrs. Senior Oklahoma Pageant.

Jody Conner may currently be a contestant in the Mrs. Senior Oklahoma Pageant, but before that, she spent ten years working for Rockwell International in California, helping build the space shuttles Discovery and Endeavor.

She was a thermal protection system mechanic. She was one of the people whose job it was to bond the tiles to the outside of the shuttle that provided the protection from the heat of reentry.

They did a great job. Discovery was the third shuttle in the fleet, but flew more than 30 missions into space, more than any other shuttle.

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"It was quite the experience, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat," Conner said.

That was exciting, but her next adventure will be as well; she's in the Mrs. Senior Oklahoma Pageant next weekend.

"I made Miss Lucile Page Manor up here, I was crowned by the mayor of Sand Springs," Conner said.

Conner already has one of the preliminary questions answered. When they asked would she would do if she could do anything, Conner said, "I'd want to fly on one of the space shuttles I worked on."

The Mrs. Senior Oklahoma Pageant is from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on March 8th at the Southeast Tulsa Community College campus.