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NASA astronaut Janice Voss died Monday in Arizona after a battle with breast cancer.

She was 55.

Voss went to work for NASA as a teenager while attending Purdue University and flew five space shuttle missions. She spent a total of 49 days in space, traveling 18.8 million miles in 779 Earth orbits, according to NASA.

NASA officials say Voss was one of only six women to fly in space at least five times.

Her first spaceflight was in 1993. In 1995, Voss took part in a mission to the Mir space station. During her final mission in 2000, the shuttle crew mapped more than 47 million square miles of Earth's land surface.

"As the payload commander of two space shuttle missions, Janice was responsible for paving the way for experiments that we now perform on a daily basis on the International Space Station," Peggy Whitson, chief of the Astronaut Office said in a statement. "By improving the way scientists are able to analyze their data, and establishing the experimental methods and hardware necessary to perform these unique experiments, Janice and her crew ensured that our space station would be the site of discoveries that we haven't even imagined."

Information from the Associated Press and the Journal and Courier was used in this report.