Richard M. Linnehan - NASA Career

NASA Career

Selected by NASA in March 1992, Linnehan reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992 where he completed one year of Astronaut Candidate training, qualifying him for Space Shuttle flight assignments as a mission specialist. 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. He first flew as a mission specialist in 1996 on STS-78, the Life Sciences and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) mission. In 1998, he served as the payload commander on the STS-90 Neurolab mission. In 2002, he was a member of the four-man EVA crew on STS-109. A veteran of four space flights, Linnehan has logged over 59 days in space, including six EVAs (spacewalks) totaling 42 hours and 11 minutes. Linnehan was recently assigned to mission STS-123.