Susan Jane Helms is a retired lieutenant general in the United States Air Force and a former NASA astronaut. She was the commander, 14th Air Force; and commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. Helms was a crew member on five Space Shuttle missions and was a resident of the International Space Station for over five months in 2001. While participating in ISS Expedition 2, she and Jim Voss conducted an 8-hour and 56 minute spacewalk, the world record for the longest spacewalk. Helms officially retired from the United States Air Force in 2014.