Karen Nyberg
| Karen L. Nyberg | |
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| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Active |
| Born | Karen LuJean Nyberg October 7, 1969 Parkers Prairie, Minnesota |
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Other occupation
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Mechanical Engineer |
| University of North Dakota, The University of Texas at Austin | |
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Time in space
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180 days |
| Selection | NASA Astronaut Group 18 in 2000 |
| Missions | STS-124, Soyuz TMA-09M (Expedition 36/37) |
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Mission insignia
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Karen LuJean Nyberg (born October 7, 1969) is an American mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut. Nyberg became the 50th woman in space on her first mission in 2008.
Nyberg started her space career in 1991 and spent a total of 180 days in space in 2008 and 2013 (as a Mission Specialist on STS-124 and a Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-09M).
Nyberg's hometown is Vining, Minnesota. She is married to astronaut Douglas Hurley and they have a son. Her recreational interests include running, sewing, drawing and painting, backpacking, piano, and spending time with her family. Her parents, Kenneth and Phyllis Nyberg, still reside in Vining.
Nyberg graduated summa cum laude with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of North Dakota in 1994. She continued her studies at the University of Texas at Austin, centered on human thermoregulation and experimental metabolic testing and control, and focusing on the control of thermal neutrality in space suits. This work at the Austin BioHeat Transfer Laboratory led to her doctorate in 1998.
She was selected as an Astronaut Candidate by NASA in July 2000. After two years of training and evaluation she qualified as a Mission Specialist and was assigned for technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch. She was Crew Support Astronaut for the Expedition 6 crew during their six-month mission on the ISS. In July 2006, Nyberg took part in NEEMO 10, a deep-sea training and simulation exercise at the Aquarius underwater laboratory to help NASA prepare for the return of astronauts to the moon and manned missions to Mars. Nyberg and her crewmates lived and worked underwater for seven days.
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