American astronaut, chemist, engineer and USAF colonel (born 1960)
Catherine Grace
"
Cady
"
Coleman
(born December 14, 1960) is an American
chemist
,
engineer
, former
United States Air Force
colonel, and retired
NASA
astronaut
.
[1]
She is a veteran of two
Space Shuttle
missions, and departed the
International Space Station
on May 23, 2011, as a crew member of
Expedition 27
after logging 159 days in space.
Education
[
edit
]
Coleman graduated from
Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School
,
Fairfax, Virginia
, in 1978.
[1]
In 1978?1979, she was an exchange student at
Røyken Upper Secondary School
in
Norway
with the
AFS Intercultural Programs
. She received a
B.S.
degree
in
chemistry
from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(MIT) in 1983 and was commissioned as graduate of the
Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps
(Air Force ROTC).,
[2]
then received a
Ph.D.
degree
in
polymer science
and
engineering
from the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
in 1991.
[3]
[1]
She was advised by
Professor Thomas J. McCarthy
on her doctorate.
[4]
[5]
As an
undergraduate
, she was a member of the
intercollegiate
rowing crew
and was a resident of
Baker House
.
[6]
Military career
[
edit
]
Coleman continued to pursue her
PhD
at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
as a
second lieutenant
. In 1988, she entered active duty at
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
as a
research chemist
. During her work, she participated as a surface analysis consultant on the
NASA
Long Duration Exposure Facility
experiment. In 1991, she received her doctorate in
polymer science
and
engineering
.
[1]
She retired from the Air Force in November 2009 as a
colonel
.
[1]
NASA career
[
edit
]
Coleman in the
ISS
in 2011
Coleman and
Valentina Tereshkova
at the
Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center
in December 2010
Coleman was selected by
NASA
in 1992 to join the
NASA Astronaut Corps
. In 1995, she was a member of the
STS-73
crew on the scientific mission USML-2 with experiments including
biotechnology
,
combustion science
, and the
physics
of
fluids
. During the flight, she reported to
Houston Mission Control
that she had spotted an
Unidentified flying object
(UFO). She also trained for the mission
STS-83
to be the backup for
Donald A. Thomas
; however, as he recovered on time, she did not fly that mission.
STS-93
was Coleman's second space flight in 1999. She was
mission specialist
in charge of deploying the
Chandra X-ray Observatory
and its
Inertial Upper Stage
out of the shuttle's cargo bay.
[1]
Coleman served as Chief of Robotics for the Astronaut Office, to include
robotic arm
operations and training for all Space Shuttle and
International Space Station
missions.
[7]
In October 2004, Coleman served as an
aquanaut
during the
NEEMO
7 mission aboard the
Aquarius
underwater laboratory
, living and working underwater for eleven days.
[8]
[9]
Coleman was assigned as a backup U.S. crew member for Expeditions
19
,
20
and
21
and served as a backup crew member for Expeditions
24
and
25
as part of her training for
Expedition 26
.
Coleman launched on December 15, 2010 (December 16, 2010
Baikonur time
), aboard
Soyuz TMA-20
to join the
Expedition 26
mission aboard the
International Space Station
.
[10]
She retired from NASA on December 1, 2016.
Spaceflight experience
[
edit
]
Coleman playing a flute inside the
International Space Station
in 2011
STS-73
on Space Shuttle
Columbia
(October 20 to November 5, 1995) was the second United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2) mission. The mission focused on
materials science
,
biotechnology
,
combustion science
, the
physics
of
fluids
, and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized
Spacelab
module. In completing her first space flight, Coleman orbited the
Earth
256 times, traveled over 6 million miles, and logged a total of 15 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes and 21 seconds in space.
STS-93
on
Columbia
(July 22 to 27, 1999) was a five-day mission during which Coleman was the lead
mission specialist
for the deployment of the
Chandra X-ray Observatory
. Designed to conduct comprehensive studies of the
universe
, the
telescope
will enable scientists to study exotic
phenomena
such as exploding
stars
,
quasars
, and
black holes
. Mission duration was 118 hours and 50 minutes.
Soyuz TMA-20
/ Expedition 26/
27
(December 15, 2010, to May 23, 2011) was an extended duration mission to the
International Space Station
.
[11]
Personal
[
edit
]
Coleman is married to
glass artist
Josh Simpson
who lives in
Massachusetts
.
[12]
They have one son. She is part of the band Bandella, which also includes fellow NASA astronaut
Stephen Robinson
, Canadian astronaut
Chris Hadfield
, and Micki Pettit (wife of the astronaut
Donald Pettit
). Coleman is a
flute
player and has taken several flutes with her to the ISS, including a
pennywhistle
from
Paddy Moloney
of
The Chieftains
, an old
Irish flute
from
Matt Molloy
of The Chieftains, and a flute from
Ian Anderson
of
Jethro Tull (band)
. On February 15, 2011, she played one of the instruments live from orbit on
National Public Radio
.
[13]
On April 12, 2011, she played live via video link for the audience of
Jethro Tull
's show in
Russia
in honour of the 50th anniversary of
Yuri Gagarin
's flight, playing in orbit while Anderson played on the ground.
[14]
[15]
On May 13 of that year, Coleman delivered a taped commencement address to the class of 2011 at the
University of Massachusetts Amherst
.
[16]
As do many other astronauts, Coleman holds an
amateur radio
license (callsign: KC5ZTH).
As of 2015, she is also known to be working as a guest speaker at the
Baylor College of Medicine
, for the children's program "Saturday Morning Science".
In 2018, she gave a graduation address to
Carter Lynch
, the sole graduate of
Cuttyhunk Elementary School
, on
Cuttyhunk Island
,
Massachusetts
.
[17]
In 2019 the Irish postal service
An Post
issued a set of commemorative stamps for the 50th anniversary of the
Apollo Moon landings
, Catherine Coleman is featured alongside fellow astronauts
Neil Armstrong
,
Michael Collins
, and
Eileen Collins
.
[18]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
:
"Biographical Data: Catherine "Cady" Coleman, Ph.D. (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) NASA Astronaut"
(PDF)
. NASA. December 2016
. Retrieved
January 15,
2021
.
- ^
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
:
"Preflight Interview: Catherine Coleman"
. NASA. October 28, 2010. Archived from
the original
on November 2, 2012
. Retrieved
December 9,
2010
.
- ^
McCarthy Research Group
? website of the University of Massachusetts Amherst
- ^
"UMass Amherst Alumna Cady Coleman Returning to Space as Part of Shuttle Crew"
.
Office of News & Media Relations | UMass Amherst
. Archived from
the original
on October 11, 2019
. Retrieved
October 8,
2016
.
- ^
"UMass grad Catherine "Cady" Coleman ready for blastoff"
.
masslive.com
. Retrieved
October 8,
2016
.
- ^
McGann, Matt (July 20, 2009).
"Celebrating the Moon Landing"
.
MIT Admissions
.
MIT
.
Archived
from the original on April 27, 2021
. Retrieved
April 27,
2021
.
Some background on Cady Coleman: She graduated MIT with a bachelor's degree in Chemistry, lived in my dorm, Baker House, and rowed on the Varsity Crew Team.
- ^
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
:
"NASA ? Preflight Interview: Catherine Coleman"
.
nasa.gov
. Archived from
the original
on November 2, 2012
. Retrieved
December 9,
2010
.
- ^
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
:
"NEEMO 7"
. NASA. October 13, 2004. Archived from
the original
on September 25, 2012
. Retrieved
September 23,
2011
.
- ^
"CSA ? Neemo 7 Mission"
. Canadian Space Agency. August 9, 2004. Archived from
the original
on March 9, 2012
. Retrieved
September 23,
2011
.
- ^
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the
public domain
:
NASA Television Will Air Next Soyuz Landing And Launch
? Media Advisory : M10-164A ? November 18, 2010.
- ^
"Blogger"
.
spaceports.blogspot.com
.
- ^
"Josh Simpson ? Contemporary Glass"
.
- ^
"Flutes in Space: Astronaut Plays Aboard Space Station"
.
NPR
. Retrieved
February 17,
2011
.
- ^
"Space flutes salute Yuri Gagarin"
.
The Register
.
- ^
"Ian Anderson + Cady Coleman flute duet in space"
.
YouTube
. April 8, 2011.
Archived
from the original on November 24, 2021.
- ^
"NASA astronaut Catherine 'Cady' Coleman has message from space for 2011 UMass graduates: Work as a team to solve nation's problems"
.
masslive.com
. May 14, 2011.
- ^
Taylor, Derrick Bryson (June 5, 2019).
"Jenny Slate Will Give a Graduation Speech to a Class of One"
.
The New York Times
. Retrieved
June 5,
2019
.
- ^
Robert Pearlman (July 23, 2019).
"Touch Down for Astronaut to unveil Space Exploration stamps"
.
collectspace.com
.
External links
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