- Karen Nyberg
- Astronaut
Johnson Space Center
My name is Karen Nyberg. I grew up near a very small town in rural, central Minnesota. When I was a child, I decided that I wanted to be an astronaut and I kept that dream with me as I set out for college at the University of North Dakota. Because I enjoyed math, drawing, and solving problems, I chose to study Mechanical Engineering. As an undergraduate student, I had the opportunity to work at the Johnson Space Center in Houston through the Cooperative Education program; I spent every other semester doing actual engineering work for NASA. It was an awesome experience and reinforced my desire for the adventure and excitement of traveling into space. After earning my bachelors degree, I moved south to continue on with my masters and doctorate degrees at the University of Texas at Austin, where I had the fortune of doing NASA related research in the area of space suit design.
My childhood dreams came true much sooner than I expected, as I interviewed to be an astronaut only one year after finishing college and, in July of 2000, had the honor of being selected as a mission specialist astronaut in the 18th class of astronauts. Since completing the initial two years of training and evaluation to qualify for assignment as a Space Shuttle or International Space Station crew member, I’ve had the opportunity to work in a variety of exciting areas in support of human spaceflight. Most recently, I have been involved in the development of new space suits for NASA’s next generation space vehicle and for returning humans to the moon.
When I’m home in Houston, I like to fill my free time with running, biking, sewing, drawing and other arts, and playing with my two dogs, Sydney and Charlie. I love the outdoors and enjoy backpacking, camping, and trail running whenever travel allows.
I’m very much looking forward to being a part of the NEEMO 10 crew. The mission, focusing on various aspects of operations on the lunar surface, relates directly to the exploration goals of NASA of returning to the moon and traveling on to Mars. I have no doubt that living and working with a great group of people aboard the Aquarius, surrounded by the wonderful and unique scenery of undersea, will be great preparation for a future mission to space.
