PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – The daughter of a Canton woman is helping to get communications and weather satellites into orbit.

Satellites have become a fixed part of life for most Americans. They provide television to homes, help people find their way around, track weather patterns and offer a view of neighborhoods and cities around the world.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Jessica M. Rolfe, daughter of Roswitha Ingram of West Main Street, Canton, is a medical diagnostic imaging craftsman with the Air Force’s 45th Space Wing. The main part of the wing is at Patrick Air Force Base, but a few miles down the road, other parts of the wing work at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where the launches occur.

The 45th Space Wing launches rockets that launch satellites into orbit and also provides support for the Department of Defense, NASA, and commercial manned and unmanned space programs.

Hundreds of airmen, including Rolfe, support launch operations both directly at the launch sites and indirectly as a part of support units that provide security and medical care.

“I radiograph patients daily,” said Rolfe, a 1997 graduate of Ogdensburg Free Academy. She went on to earn an associate degree in radiography in 2007 from the Community College of the Air Force. “I’m here to make sure their doctors can see what’s going on inside their bodies and help keep them healthy.”

“My favorite part of my job knowing I am helping doctors to assess patients’ conditions and injuries,” said Rolfe, who is assigned to the 45th Medical Support Squadron. “I’m helping diagnose and heal them.”

“I like living in Florida. The beaches and sun are like a daily vacation,” said Rolfe. “On my off-duty time I visit the beach, play with my son at the park and cook and bake with him.”

Rolfe has been in the Air Force for 10 years. She said she plans on retiring from the military after a 20-year career and wouldn’t mind spending the rest of it at Patrick.