Cady served in a variety of roles within the Astronaut Office, including Chief of Robotics, and lead astronaut for integration of supply ships from NASA’s commercial partners, including SpaceX. Before retiring from NASA, she led open-innovation and public-private partnership efforts for NASA’s Chief Technologist.
A popular public speaker and media consultant, she is also a regular contributor for space exploration news and a Research Affiliate at MIT’s Media Lab. She serves on several boards, including the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, the ISS National Lab Education Advisory Group, Greenfield Community College, and the Greenfield Cooperative Bank.
Cady’s book, Sharing Space: An Astronaut’s Guide to Mission, Wonder, and Making Change is known for its insights and candid stories. She and her family were featured in PBS’s Space: The Longest Goodbye; and The Wonderful: Stories from the Space Station.
An improvisational flute player, she is known for her “Space Duet” with Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and her work with the Irish band, The Chieftains. From space, she coached Sandra Bullock for her role in “Gravity.”
Cady lives in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts with her husband, glass artist Josh Simpson. They have two adult sons and two enormous Maine Coon cats, Saber and Max.