National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058
Biographical Data

Karen L. Nyberg (Ph.D.)
NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA: Born on October 7, 1969. Her hometown is Vining, Minnesota. Recreational interests include running, sewing, drawing and painting, backpacking, piano, and spending time with her dogs. Karen’s parents, Kenneth & Phyllis Nyberg, still reside in Vining.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Henning Public High School, Henning, Minnesota, 1988. B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude, University of North Dakota, 1994. M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 1996. Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, 1998.

SPECIAL HONORS/AWARDS: UND Young Alumni Achievement Award (2004), Space Act Award (1993); NASA JSC Patent Application Award (1993); NASA Tech Briefs Award (1993); NASA JSC Cooperative Education Special Achievement Award (1994); Joyce Medalen Society of Women Engineers Award (1993-94); D.J. Robertson Award of Academic Achievement (1992); University of North Dakota School of Engineering & Mines Meritorious Service Award (1991-1992). Recipient of numerous scholarships and other awards.

EXPERIENCE: Graduate research was completed at The University of Texas at Austin BioHeat Transfer Laboratory where she investigated human thermoregulation and experimental metabolic testing and control, specifically related to the control of thermal neutrality in space suits.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Co-op at Johnson Space Center from 1991-1995, working in a variety of areas. She received a patent for work done in 1991 on Robot Friendly Probe and Socket Assembly. In 1998, on completing her doctorate, she accepted a position with the Crew and Thermal Systems Division, working as an Environmental Control Systems Engineer. Her prime responsibility involved using human thermal physiology and engineering control for improvements in the space suit thermal control system and evaluation of firefighter suit cooling technologies. Other responsibilities included providing computational fluid dynamic analysis for the TransHab module air distribution system, coordinating and monitoring analysis tasks performed by a team of contractor personnel for the X-38 environmental control and life support system, providing conceptual designs of the thermal control system for the Advanced Mars and Lunar Lander Mission studies, and environmental control system analysis for a collapsible hyperbaric chamber.

Selected as a mission specialist by NASA in July 2000, Dr. Nyberg reported for training in August 2000. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, she was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch where she served as Crew Support Astronaut for the Expedition 6 Crew during their six-month mission aboard the International Space Station. Dr. Nyberg next served in the Space Shuttle Branch and the Exploration Branch. Dr. Nyberg completed her first spaceflight in 2008 on STS-124, and has logged over 13 days in space.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-124 Discovery (May 31 to June 14, 2008) was the 123rd Space Shuttle flight, and the 26 th Shuttle flight to the International Space Station. STS-124 was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and docked with the International Space Station on June 2 to deliver the Japanese Experiment Module-Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System. STS-124 Shuttle astronauts delivered the 37-foot (11-meter) Kibo lab, added its rooftop storage room and conducted three spacewalks to maintain the station and to prime the new Japanese module's robotic arm for work during nine days docked at the orbiting laboratory. STS-124 also delivered a new station crew member, Expedition 17 Flight Engineer Greg Chamitoff. He replaced Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Garrett Riesman, who returned to Earth with the STS-124 crew. The STS-124 mission was completed in 218 orbits, traveling 5,735.643 miles in 13 days, 18 hours, 13 minutes and 7 seconds.