Laura Stiles

{{Short description|American aerospace engineer (born 1986)}} {{Use American English|date=January 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox academic | background = | honorific_prefix = | name = Laura Stiles | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_upright = | image_size = | landscape = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = Laura Ann Stiles | alias = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1986|4|14}} | birth_place = Prairie Village, Kansas | origin = | death_date = | death_place = | death_cause = | education = University of Kansas (BS) <br> University of Colorado, Boulder (MS, PhD) | thesis_title = Electrostatic inflation of membrane space structures | thesis_year = 2013 | thesis_url = https://hanspeterschaub.info/Papers/grads/LauraStiles.pdf | doctoral_advisor = Hanspeter Schaub | spouse = | main_interests = Human spaceflight | awards = | website = | workplaces = Blue Origin | occupation = Aerospace engineer | known_for = Blue Origin NS-38 | module = {{Infobox astronaut | child=yes | name = | type = Commercial Astronaut | selection = | time = 10 m 12 s | mission = Blue Origin NS-38 | insignia = }} }}

'''Laura Ann Stiles''' (born April 14, 1986) is an American aerospace engineer. She was the director of New Shepard flight operations and astronaut training at Blue Origin until 2026.<ref>{{cite web |title=New Shepard Mission NS-38 |url=https://www.blueorigin.com/missions/ns-38 |publisher=Blue Origin |access-date=23 January 2026}}</ref>

==Biography== Stiles was born in Prairie Village, Kansas in 1986 to Brenda and Mark Stiles. She studied engineering physics at the University of Kansas, doing research under Michael Murray and Alice Bean.<ref name="kuphsx"/> As an undergraduate, she worked on the formation flying dynamics of the New Worlds Observer telescope at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in 2007. She also worked at CERN's Large Hadron Collider, designing the light injection system on the Zero Degree Calorimeter for the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiment.<ref name="kuphsx">{{cite web |title=Stiles, Laura |url=https://physics.ku.edu/people/stiles-laura |website=physics.ku.edu |publisher=University of Kansas |access-date=26 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref> Stiles graduated in 2008.

She attended the University of Colorado, Boulder and studied aerospace engineering, astrodynamics, and satellite navigation. As a graduate student, she worked on CubeSat deployable reflectors at the Air Force Research Laboratory in 2009. Under Hanspeter Schaub, she researched electrostatic inflation of space stations, graduating with a master's in 2011 and doctorate in 2013.

In 2013, Stiles joined American private aerospace company Blue Origin. Initially an engineer on the New Shepard capsule parachute system, she became the lead for New Shepard launch operations in 2018. She served as a flight controller for more than twelve sub-orbital launches. In April of 2022, Stiles became crew member 7 for New Shepard.

On January 21, 2026, Stiles flew to an altitude of 107 km on New Shepard 4 as a crew member on Blue Origin NS-38.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=Mike |title=Blue Origin launches 6 space tourists to the final frontier after last-minute crew swap (video) |url=https://www.space.com/space-exploration/private-spaceflight/blue-origin-ns-38-space-tourist-launch |access-date=23 January 2026 |work=Space |date=22 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Blue Origin Completes 38th New Shepard Flight to Space |url=https://www.blueorigin.com/news/new-shepard-ns-38-mission |publisher=Blue Origin |access-date=23 January 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bartiromo |first1=Michael |title=Blue Origin launches 17th crewed mission to space: Who was on it? |url=https://thehill.com/homenews/5700868-blue-origin-launches-17th-crewed-space-mission/ |access-date=23 January 2026 |work=The Hill |date=January 22, 2026}}</ref> She became the twenty-first person from the University of Colorado to fly to space beyond the Kármán line.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alumna set for New Shepard launch {{!}} Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences {{!}} University of Colorado Boulder |url=https://www.colorado.edu/aerospace/2026/01/21/alumna-set-new-shepard-launch |website=www.colorado.edu |publisher=University of Colorado News |access-date=23 January 2026 |language=en}}</ref>

== Personal life == Stiles has been a skydiving instructor since 2011. She competed nationally and holds 2 World Records in large-formation flying. She holds a patent for the design of a deployable shell with wrapped gores.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Murphey |first1=Thomas W. |last2=Banik |first2=Jeremy A. |last3=Reynolds |first3=Whitney D. |last4=Stiles |first4=Laura A. |title=Deployable Shell With Wrapped Gores |url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US20120146873 |access-date=23 January 2026 |language=en |date=14 June 2012}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}} {{portal bar|Aviation|Biography|Spaceflight}}

{{Authority control}} Category:1986 births Category:American aerospace engineers Category:Women aerospace engineers Category:21st-century women engineers Category:University of Kansas alumni Category:University of Colorado Boulder alumni Category:Spaceflight Category:Human spaceflight Category:Living people Category:Blue Origin people Category:People from Prairie Village, Kansas