Metcalf-Lindenburger was selected by NASA in May 2004 as an astronaut candidate. Astronaut candidate training includes orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in
Shuttle and
International Space Station systems,
physiological training,
T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training. Successful completion of this training in February 2006 qualified her as a NASA Astronaut. She served as a mission specialist on
STS-131, an April 2010 Space Shuttle mission to the
International Space Station. The mission's primary payload was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
Leonardo, which was filled with food and science supplies for the station. The MPLM also carried the third and final
Minus Eighty Degree Laboratory Freezer for ISS (MELFI),
Window Orbital Research Facility (WORF), one Crew Quarters Rack, the
Muscle Atrophy Resistive Exercise (MARES) rack, Resupply Stowage Racks (RSRs), and Resupply Stowage Platforms (RSPs). (Metcalf-Lindenburger on the top left) and
Tracy Caldwell of ISS
Expedition 23, the first time four women were in space at the same time. On July 20, 2009, Metcalf-Lindenburger sang the
national anthem at the
Houston Astros game against the
St. Louis Cardinals in celebration of the 40th anniversary of the
Apollo 11 Moon landing. She has been a long-time lead singer with the all-astronaut rock band, "
Max Q". On April 16, 2012, NASA announced that Metcalf-Lindenburger would command the
NEEMO 16 undersea exploration mission aboard the
Aquarius underwater laboratory, scheduled to begin on June 11, 2012, and last twelve days. The NEEMO 16 crew successfully "splashed down" at 11:05 am on June 11. On the morning of June 12, Metcalf-Lindenburger and her crewmates officially became aquanauts, having spent over 24 hours underwater. The crew safely returned to the surface on June 22. Metcalf-Lindenburger retired from NASA on June 13, 2014, to live and work in the Seattle area.
Spaceflights STS-131
Discovery (April 5 to 20, 2010), a resupply mission to the International Space Station, was launched at night from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. On arrival at the station,
Discoverys crew dropped off more than 27,000 pounds of hardware, supplies and equipment, including a tank full of ammonia coolant that required three spacewalks to hook up, new crew sleeping quarters and three experiment racks. On the return journey,
Leonardo, the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) inside
Discoverys payload bay, was packed with more than 6,000 pounds of hardware, science results and trash. The STS-131 mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 Earth orbits. ==References==