“We are all brought together by the shared excitement of space exploration and the curiosity that it brings. Many of us weren’t alive and yet, we continue to be inspired by what the crew of Apollo 11 did,” said Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, a retired NASA Astronaut.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the U.S. Consulate General in Chennai in association with the Tamil Nadu Science and Technology Centre organised a virtual lecture where Ms. Metcalf-Lindenburger spoke about her journey from being a science teacher to following her passion and dreams of space exploration as an astronaut.
As a part of the 15-day space shuttle discovery mission to resupply the International Space Station, Ms. Metcalf-Lindenburger served as a flight engineer, the robotic arm operator and an intra-vehicular crew member or an inside coordinator for the space walks and a transfer crew member.
Speaking about the Chandrayaan 2 mission which had been called off for the time being, she said that it was a reminder about how difficult space exploration was and that it was common to have setbacks. “My own mission was supposed to launch months earlier and there were delays. Delays are a wise thing as they allow us time to understand what wasn’t operating and fix it. This way, we save the mission and the goals it is based on.”
Her talk shed light on the extensive training involved towards becoming an Astronaut and she encouraged students to take up space research. The U.S. Consulate General in Chennai also connected with audiences in New Delhi and Colombo and the students interacted with Ms. Metcalf-Lindenburger, asking her about space science, her training and missions.
Dr. Nandan Kumar Sinha from the department of aerospace engineering, IIT Madras, and U. Sagayam, Vice Chairman of Science City, TNSTC, also spoke at the event.
