SPACE CAMP® Grad and NASA Astronaut Scheduled for Space Shuttle Flight

HUNTSVILLE, AL – Space Camp graduate and Space Camp Hall of Fame inductee Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger is scheduled to fly aboard the space shuttle Atlantis in February, 2010. She will become the first Space Camp graduate to actually fly in space!
Dottie attended Space Academy when she was just 14 years old. She says the experience was life-changing and solidified her love for science.
Years later, while teaching science and astronomy at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, Washington, a student asked her a question that sent her to the NASA website in search of an answer. What she found there was also life-changing. NASA had just posted a call for teachers to apply to the astronaut program. Dottie applied, and became the youngest member of the 2004 NASA Astronaut Candidate Corps.
“We couldn’t be more excited for her,” said Larry Capps, CEO of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center. “Thousands of our students dream of going into space. Dottie never lost sight of her dream and now she’s poised to turn that dream into reality.”
Dottie has been selected to be a Mission Specialist aboard STS-131. She and her crew, commanded by Navy Captain Alan Poindexter, will deliver research and science experiment equipment, a new sleeping area and supplies to the station in a logistics module carried in the shuttle's payload bay.
In 2007, during the celebration of Space Camp’s 25th season, Dottie was chosen for another honor. She was picked to be a member of the inaugural class of Space Camp Hall of Fame Inductees for her love of science, her passion for the sharing of knowledge, and her professional achievements.

(NOTE: The contact for this release is Al Whitaker, Media Relations Manager, U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Huntsville, AL 256-721-7160. Email: media@spacecamp.com)