Have you ever dreamed of meeting a NASA astronaut? Dream no more because the Sofia Science Festival gives you the chance to meet NASA astronaut Dr. Richard Linnehan. A veterinarian by profession and explorer by heart, Dr. Linnehan was selected by NASA in 1992 and has taken part in four space missions. He is currently assigned to the Johnson Space Center (also known as “Mission Control”) in Houston, Texas.
Dr. Linnehan’s first spaceflight experience – STS-78/LMS (June 20 to July 7, 1996) – was also the first mission to combine both a full microgravity studies agenda and a comprehensive life sciences payload and the longest duration Space Shuttle mission to date. Dr. Linnehan’s second space mission was STS-90/Neurolab (April 17 to May 3, 1998) and it covered 6.3 million miles in 381 hours and 50 minutes. Both the LMS and Neurolab missions served as models for future life sciences studies to be conducted on board the International Space Station. STS-109/HST Servicing Mission 3B (March 1-12, 2002) was the fourth Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission and Dr. Linnehan’s third flight aboard Columbia. STS-123/1JA (March 11-26, 2008) aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour was his fourth space mission and as lead space walker, Linnehan (EV1) performed three of five total spacewalks during the mission. Dr. Richard Linnehan holds many awards and honors including NASA Exceptional Service Medal and NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
Enjoy an exciting talk on space, science, endurance and adventure by a man who was a child when the landing on the moon took place and since then dreamed of becoming an astronaut.
The event will be in English with Bulgarian translation.
Presented in partnership with U.S. Embassy Sofia.