Linnehan
Linnehan
Credit - www.spacefacts.de
Dr Richard Michael Linnehan American Mission Specialist Astronaut. Born 19 September 1957.

Personal: Male, Single. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA. DVM Civilian US Army

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 14 - 1992. Active Entered space service: 31 March 1992. Number of Flights: 3.00. Total Time: 43.74 days. Number of EVAs: 3.00. Total EVA Time: 0.89 days.

NASA Official Biography

NAME: Richard M. Linnehan (DVM)
NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:
Born September 19, 1957, in Lowell, Massachusetts. Single. He enjoys mountain biking, swimming, skiing, hiking, and natural history. His mother, Carol J. Robinson, resides in Jensen Beach, Florida. His father, Richard H. Linnehan, is deceased.

EDUCATION:
Graduated from Pelham High School, Pelham, New Hampshire, in 1975; received a bachelor of science degree in animal sciences with a minor in microbiology from the University of New Hampshire in 1980; the degree of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in 1985.

ORGANIZATIONS:
Member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians, and the International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine.

SPECIAL HONORS:
Navy Group Achievement Award, Navy Commendation Medal.

EXPERIENCE:
After graduating from the Ohio State University College of Veterinary Medicine in June 1985, Dr. Linnehan entered private practice in small animal/exotic veterinary medicine and was later accepted to a 2-year (1986-1988) joint internship in zoo animal medicine and comparative pathology at the Baltimore Zoo and the Johns Hopkins University. After completing his internship Dr. Linnehan was commissioned as a captain in the U.S. Army Veterinary Corps and reported for duty in early 1989 at Naval Ocean Systems Center, San Diego, California, as chief clinical veterinarian for the U.S. Navy's Marine Mammal Project. During his assignment at Naval Ocean Systems Center Dr. Linnehan initiated and supervised research in the areas of cetacean and pinniped anesthesia, orthopedics, drug pharmacokinetics and reproduction in direct support of Naval mobile marine mammal systems stationed in California, Florida, and Hawaii.

NASA EXPERIENCE:
Selected by NASA in March 1992, Dr. Linnehan reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and is qualified for future flight assignments as a mission specialist. Dr. Linnehan was initially assigned to flight software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). He was subsequently assigned to the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch, working on payload development, and mission development flight support for future Space Shuttle missions. In 1996, Dr. Linnehan flew on STS-78 the Life Sciences and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) mission. He has logged over 405 hours in space. Dr. Linnehan is currently assigned to the crew of STS-90 Neurolab, a 16-day Spacelab mission dedicated to investigations on the effects of microgravity on the nervous system. Launch is targeted for March 1998.

STS-78 launched June 20, 1996 and landed July 7, 1996 becoming the longest Space Shuttle mission to date. This mission served as a model for future studies onboard the International Space Station. The LMS mission included studies sponsored by ten nations and five space agencies. The international crew included 5 Americans a Frenchman, a Canadian, a Spaniard, and an Italian.

JANUARY 1997

Linnehan Spaceflight Log

  • 20 June 1996 Flight: STS-78. Flight Up: STS-78. Flight Back: STS-78. Flight Time: 16.91 days.
  • 17 April 1998 Flight: STS-90. Flight Up: STS-90. Flight Back: STS-90. Flight Time: 15.91 days.
  • 1 March 2002 Flight: STS-109. Flight Up: STS-109. Flight Back: STS-109. Flight Time: 10.92 days.
Linnehan Chronology

5 December 1992 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 14 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Four pilots and 15 mission specialists, nine civilians and ten military. Chosen from 2054 applicants, 87 of which screened in December 1991/January 1992. Five additional international astronauts.

20 June 1996 - STS-78. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-78. Columbia carried Terence T Henricks, Kevin R Kregel, Susan J Helms, Richard M Linnehan, Charles E Brady, Jr, Jean-Jacques Favier, and Robert Brent Thirsk to orbit. Main payload was the Life and Microgravity Spacelab for conducting human biological and microgravity experiments. Columbia landed safely at Kennedy Space Center on July 7.
7 July 1996 - Landing of STS-78. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-78. STS-78 landed at 12:36 GMT.
17 April 1998 - STS-90. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-90. Columbia rolled out to pad 39B on March 23. Payloads:

  • Spacelab transfer tunnel
  • Spacelab Long Module, with Neurolab experiments for the following life science studies:

    • Chronic Recording of Otolith Nerves in Microgravity
    • Development of the Aortic Baroreflex under Conditions of Microgravity
    • Neural-Thyroid Interaction on Skeletal Isomyosin Expression in OG
    • Spatial Orientation of the Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex and Velocity Storage
    • Autonomic Neuroplasticity in Weightlessness

  • Extended Duration Orbiter pallet
  • Two Get Away Special beams with canisters G-197, G-467, G-772 (Colorado's COLLIDE experiment, which collided small particles into each other to simulate the formation of planets and rings).

The Neurolab mission was managed by NASA-Johnson at Houston, unlike earlier Spacelab flights which were NASA-Marshall/Huntsville's responsibility. Landed at Kennedy Space Center May 3 1998.

3 May 1998 - Landing of STS-90. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-90. STS-90 landed at 16:09 GMT.
1 March 2002 - STS-109. Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight: STS-109. Hubble Servicing Mission 3B. STS-109 main engine cutoff came at 1130 UTC with Columbia in a 55 x 574 km x 28.5 deg transfer orbit. The OMS-2 burn at about 1207 UTC raised perigee to about 195 km. There was a problem with a freon cooling loop on the Orbiter, but it wasn't quite bad enough to affect the mission. The Hubble Space Telescope closed its aperture door on March 2 in preparation for the rendezvous. Columbia got within 100m of HST by 0852 UTC on March 3 and grappled it with the RMS at 0931 UTC. HST was berthed on the FSS in Columbia's payload bay by 1032 UTC.

In the course of five spacewalks, the crew installed new equipment on HST. This was the first flight of Columbia since the launch of Chandra in 1999 following refurbishment. In the first two spacewalks, two new solar arrays were installed, and the two old arrays stowed on the RAC carrier. The RWA-1R reaction wheel assembly on the MULE carrier replaced the faltering RWA-1 in the telescope. The third spacewalk was the most difficult, as HST was entirely powered down while astronauts replaced its power controller unit, not designed for on-orbit replacement. On the fourth spacewalk the astronauts removed the European FOC camera, aboard HST since launch in 1990, and replaced it with the new ACS (Advanced Camera for Surveys). They also installed the CASH wire harness, part of the aft shroud cooling system. On the final spacewalk, the astronauts installed the NCS (NICMOS cooling system) cryocooler in the aft shround and the associated NCS radiator on the telescope's exterior. The NICMOS infrared camera had been idle since its original thermal control system failed. With the removal of FOC, the COSTAR device (which deployed contact lenses for the original instruments) became obsolete, since the newer instruments made the corrections to the incorrect HST mirror internally. Cargo manifest:

  • Middeck:4 EMU spacesuits - 480 kg
  • Bay 4: RAC (Rigid Array Carrier) - 2393 kg. The RAC carried the two folded SA-III rigid solar arrays which replaced the SA-II roll-up arrays. It calso carried the DBA2 diode box assembly which controlled the arrays, and a wire harness and containers associated with the NICMOS cooling system.
  • Bay 7-8: SAC (Second Axial Carrier) - 2517 kg. The SAC was a specially designed pallet that flew on the first two Hubble SM flights, STS-61 and STS-82. On this flight it carried the ACS camera up (and the FOS camera down) as well as the NCS cryocooler, the PCU-R power controller, the CASH wire harness, and the thermal covers used in the PCU replacement.
  • Bay 11: FSS (Flight Support System) - 2111 kg. The FSS first flew on STS 41-C (the Solar Max Repair) and was reused for each of the HST SM flights. It carried the BAPS Berthing and Positioning System, which was the docking ring for HST. Stowed on the FSS were a support post for BAPS and a cover for the HST low gain antenna.
  • Bay 12: MULE (Multi-Use Lightweight Equipment Carrier) - 1409 kg. The MULE carried the NCS radiator, the NCS electronics support module, and the RWA-1R reaction wheel unit. MULE first flew on STS-48 carrying the UARS satellite, and then on STS-95 carrying the HOST payload which tested out the NCS.
  • Sill: RMS arm No 201 - 410 kg
1 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #03. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The crew of Columbia was awakened for its first full day in space at 8:22 p.m. CST with the song "Blue Telescope" by John Hiatt. In its morning mail, the crew received news that mission managers are optimistic the full mission will go forward as planned in spite of low flow in a shuttle cooling line.

Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Duane Carey, Flight Engineer Nancy Currie and spacewalkers ...more...

1 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #01. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. With the Hubble Space Telescope orbiting high overhead, the shuttle Columbia lifted off this morning on a complex mission to replace and upgrade key telescope systems through five challenging spacewalks.

Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Duane Carey, Flight Engineer Nancy Currie and spacewalkers ...more...

1 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #02. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. Following Columbia's on-time launch from the Kennedy Space Center this morning, flight controllers in Mission Control noticed a degraded flow rate in one of two freon cooling loops that help to dissipate heat from the orbiter.

There are two freon cooling loops that are part of the shuttle's active thermal ...more...

2 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #04. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. As Columbia's crew completed preparations today for the capture of the Hubble Space Telescope, mission managers confirmed that a degraded shuttle cooling system will pose no problems for Columbia's flight.

Following an extensive analysis, managers determined that, although operating at ...more...

2 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #05. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. To the theme of "Mission Impossible," Columbia's astronauts awakened this morning to the news that all systems are go for their mission, a week characterized as the most challenging flight ever to maintain and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

Columbia's capture of the telescope is planned for 3:13 a.m. Sunday. The shuttle's ...more...

3 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #07. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The crew of the space shuttle Columbia awoke for its first spacewalking day in orbit to "Five Variations on Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," performed by Jeno Jando. It was played for John Grunsfeld. Spacewalkers Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan will step out into space for the first time during this mission at about 12:30 a.m. tomorrow morning.

Within hours of awakening Grunsfeld and Linnehan, with the assistance of crewmates ...more...

3 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #06. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The Hubble Space Telescope is secure in Columbia's payload bay following its capture at 3:31 a.m. central time today, as the two spacecraft soared 350 miles above the Pacific Ocean southwest of the Mexican Coast.

Columbia's chase of the telescope ended with Commander Scott Altman and Pilot Duane ...more...

4 March 2002 - EVA STS-109-1. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-109. The airlock was depressurized at 0630 and repressurized at 1338 UTC. The astronauts replaced the -V2 solar array with the new rigid array stored in the RAC carrier, and replaced a solar array diode box.
4 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #09. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. Rested and ready for another day of spacewalking, the crew of the space shuttle Columbia was awakened at 7:53 p.m. by the children's song "Floating in the Bathtub," by Tonya Evetts Weimer. It was played for Jim Newman who is to step out into space for the second spacewalk of this mission at about 12:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Newman, making his fifth spacewalk, will work closely with crewmate, Mike Massimino, ...more...

4 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #08. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The Hubble Space Telescope has a new starboard solar array after a seven hour-one minute long spacewalk by Columbia astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan.

During the space walk, which began at 12:37 a.m. CST, Grunsfeld and Linnehan removed ...more...

5 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #11. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. Columbia's crew is preparing tonight for the third space walk of the mission, a complex, seven-hour excursion that will include the unprecedented step of turning off the Hubble Space Telescope to replace the heart of its power system.

Controllers at the Space Telescope Operations Control Center in Greenbelt, MD, will ...more...

5 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #10. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The crew of Columbia completed the second of five planned spacewalks this morning with the successful installation of a new port solar array and a new Reaction Wheel Assembly (RWA) on the Hubble Space Telescope.

Spacewalkers Jim Newman and Mike Massimino spent seven hours 16 minutes installing ...more...

6 March 2002 - EVA STS-109-3. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-109. Depress was at 0825 UTC and repress at 1516 UTC. The HST was powered entirely down and astronauts changed out the power control unit.
6 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #12. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The Hubble Space Telescope received a new "heart" today during a 6 hour, 48 minute spacewalk by astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan. The two installed a new Power Control Unit (PCU), replacing the original unit launched with the telescope in April 1990. The PCU serves as Hubble's central power switching station by distributing electricity to all systems, scientific instruments and the Nickel Hydrogen batteries.

In addition to eliminating an intermittent problem with the old PCU, the new unit ...more...

6 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #13. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. With a new heart beating strong and new power generating arrays ready to convert sunlight into energy, the Hubble Space Telescope is poised for Columbia's astronauts to improve its vision.

Spacewalkers Jim Newman and Mike Massimino are ready to begin the first science ...more...

7 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #14. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. Following today's successful installation of the new Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS) on the Hubble Space Telescope, scientists will be able to see farther into our universe and with greater clarity and speed than ever before.

Columbia's spacewalkers, Jim Newman and Mike Massimino, began the first science ...more...

7 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #15. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The crew of the space shuttle Columbia will give Hubble a way to open one of its slumbering eyes during the fifth and final scheduled spacewalk of this mission. An experimental cooling system will be installed on a camera that has been dormant since 1999 in hopes of bringing it back to life.

The crew onboard Columbia was awakened at 9:52 p.m. CST by the Mission Impossible: ...more...

8 March 2002 - EVA STS-109-5. Assignment: EVA Crew. Flight: STS-109. The EVA ran from 0841 to 1606 UTC. The astronauts installed the NICMOS cooling system (NCS). During preparations for EVA-3, a problem with a valve on Grunsfeld's suit caused it to leak water, and Grunsfeld switched to Newman's suit. For each of EVA-3,4,5 the appropriate size legs and arms were replaced on the same basic HUT (Hard Upper Torso)/PLSS (Primary Life Support System) combination.
8 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #17. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. Columbia's crew is preparing to bid a rejuvenated Hubble Space Telescope farewell following five days of spacewalks that have updated and enhanced the world's greatest observatory.

The crew completed five spacewalks on consecutive days, installing equipment that ...more...

8 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #16. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. TThe crew of the space shuttle Columbia completed the last of its five ambitious spacewalks this morning with the successful installation of an experimental cooling system for Hubble's Near-Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). The NICMOS has been dormant since January 1999 when its original coolant ran out.

Astronauts John Grunsfeld and Rick Linnehan began their third spacewalk of the mission ...more...

9 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #19. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. After five days of successful spacewalks to rejuvenate the Hubble Space Telescope, the crew of Columbia will enjoy a Sunday off. The crew was awakened at 8:50 p.m. CST Saturday by "Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra. The song was played for Commander Scott "Scooter" Altman.

The crewmembers onboard Columbia - Altman, Pilot Duane Carey and Mission Specialists ...more...

9 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #18. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. "Good luck Mr. Hubble," was the call from on board Columbia this morning as the newly rejuvenated telescope was released from the grasp of the shuttle's robotic arm at 4:04 a.m. central time today.

From the flight deck, spacewalker John Grunsfeld expressed the sentiments of the ...more...

10 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #21. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. After a day off and a good night's rest, the seven-member crew of Columbia will focus on the end of a mission featuring five successful spacewalks to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.

Landing is scheduled for 3:32 a.m. CST Tuesday at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. The ...more...

12 March 2002 - Landing of STS-109. Assignment: Return Crew. Flight: STS-109. Columbia deorbit was at 0822 UTC with landing on runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center at 0931 UTC.
12 March 2002 - STS-109 Mission Status Report #23. Flight: ISS EO-4, STS-109. The space shuttle Columbia landed at Kennedy Space Center early Tuesday after a 10-day, 22-hour and 10-minute mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. Columbia astronauts conducted five successful spacewalks during their STS-109 mission to improve the orbiting observatory.

Columbia's main landing gear touched down at 3:32 a.m. CST, completing a mission ...more...

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