After 18 months of intense training, Colorado native and former Vancouver, Wash., high school teacher Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger has graduated and is a NASA astronaut.
Metcalf-Lindenburger is available for satellite interviews from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. CDT Friday, April 14. Media interested in interviewing her should contact Karen Svetaka at (281) 483-8684 by 4 p.m. CDT April 13.
Metcalf-Lindenburger and 10 classmates received official NASA astronaut pins in a private ceremony Feb. 10. Born in Colorado Springs, Metcalf-Lindenburger graduated from high school in Fort Collins, Colo. She received a bachelor’s from Whitman College in Walla Walla, Wa. and earned a teaching certificate from Central Washington University. She was teaching Earth science and astronomy and coaching track at Hudson’s High School, Vancouver, Wash., when selected as an astronaut. She is among three teachers chosen as educator astronauts in 2004.
After almost two years of training that included water and land survival, T-38 flight training and space shuttle and international space station systems, the educator astronauts are now fully qualified. They each have classroom experience they will use to develop new ways to connect spaceflight with the classroom and inspire students. For biographical information on NASA astronauts on the Web, visit:
The interviews will be carried live on the NASA Television analog satellite. The coordinates are: satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 5C, 3800 MHz, vertical polarization, with audio at 6.8 MHz.
