Editing Catherine Coleman (section)

== NASA career ==
[[File:Catherine (Cady) Coleman, Expedition 26 flight engineer.jpg|thumb|left|Coleman in the [[International Space Station|ISS]] in 2011]]
[[File:Valentina Tereshkova and Catherine Coleman.jpg|thumb|Coleman and [[Valentina Tereshkova]] at the [[Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center]] in December 2010]]

Coleman was selected by [[NASA]] in 1992 to join the [[NASA Astronaut Corps]]. In 1995, she was a member of the [[STS-73]] crew on the scientific mission USML-2 with experiments including [[biotechnology]], [[combustion science]], and the [[physics]] of [[fluid]]s. [[STS-93]] was Coleman's second space flight in 1999. She was [[mission specialist]] in charge of deploying the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]] and its [[Inertial Upper Stage]] out of the shuttle's cargo bay.<ref name="NASA bio" />

Coleman served as Chief of Robotics for the Astronaut Office, to include [[Mobile Servicing System|robotic arm]] operations and training for all Space Shuttle and [[International Space Station]] missions.<ref>{{citation-attribution|1={{cite web|url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition26/coleman_interview.html|title=NASA – Preflight Interview: Catherine Coleman|website=nasa.gov|access-date=December 9, 2010|archive-date=November 2, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121102121507/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition26/coleman_interview.html|url-status=dead}} }}</ref> In October 2004, Coleman served as an [[aquanaut]] during the [[NEEMO]] 7 mission aboard the [[Aquarius (laboratory)|Aquarius]] [[Underwater habitat|underwater laboratory]], living and working underwater for eleven days.<ref name="seven">{{citation-attribution|1={{cite web|url=http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/neemo/neemo7/|title=NEEMO 7|access-date=September 23, 2011|publisher=NASA|date=October 13, 2004|archive-date=September 25, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925185617/http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/support/training/neemo/neemo7/|url-status=dead}} }}</ref><ref name="seven2">{{cite web|url=http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/neemo7/backgrounder_0809.asp|title=CSA – Neemo 7 Mission|access-date=September 23, 2011|date=August 9, 2004|publisher=Canadian Space Agency|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309030159/http://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/missions/neemo7/backgrounder_0809.asp |archive-date=March 9, 2012}}</ref>

Coleman was assigned as a backup U.S. crew member for Expeditions [[Expedition 19|19]], [[Expedition 20|20]] and [[Expedition 21|21]] and served as a backup crew member for Expeditions [[Expedition 24|24]] and [[Expedition 25|25]] as part of her training for [[Expedition 26]].

Coleman launched on December 15, 2010 (December 16, 2010 [[Baikonur Cosmodrome|Baikonur time]]), aboard [[Soyuz TMA-20]] to join the [[Expedition 26]] mission aboard the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{citation-attribution|1=[http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/nov/HQ_M10-164A_Soyuz_Update.html NASA Television Will Air Next Soyuz Landing And Launch] – Media Advisory : M10-164A – November 18, 2010. }}</ref>  She retired from NASA on December 1, 2016.

=== Spaceflight experience ===
[[File:ISS27 Catherine Coleman plays a flute.jpg|thumb|Coleman playing a flute inside the [[International Space Station]] in 2011]]

[[STS-73]] on Space Shuttle ''[[Space Shuttle Columbia|Columbia]]'' (October 20 to November 5, 1995) was the second United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML-2) mission. The mission focused on [[materials science]], [[biotechnology]], [[Combustion Science and Technology|combustion science]], the [[physics]] of [[fluids]], and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized [[Spacelab]] module. In completing her first space flight, Coleman orbited the [[Earth]] 256 times, traveled over 6 million miles, and logged a total of 15 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes and 21 seconds in space.

[[STS-93]] on ''Columbia'' (July 22 to 27, 1999) was a five-day mission during which Coleman was the lead [[mission specialist]] for the deployment of the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]]. Designed to conduct comprehensive studies of the [[universe]], the [[telescope]] will enable scientists to study exotic [[Phenomenon|phenomena]] such as exploding [[stars]], [[quasars]], and [[black hole]]s. Mission duration was 118 hours and 50 minutes.

[[Soyuz TMA-20]] / Expedition 26/[[Expedition 27|27]] (December 15, 2010, to May 23, 2011) was an extended duration mission to the [[International Space Station]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://spaceports.blogspot.com/2011/01/blog-post.html|title=Blogger|website=spaceports.blogspot.com}}</ref>