Karen LuJean Nyberg 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).
STS-124 was a Space Shuttle mission, flown by Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. Discovery launched on 31 May 2008 at 17:02 EDT, moved from an earlier scheduled launch date of 25 May 2008, and landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility, at 11:15 EDT on 14 June 2008.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz TMA-09M begins expedition 36 by carrying 3 astronauts and cosmonauts to the International Space Station. Russian Commander, cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin alongside Flight Engineers, Karen L. Nyberg (NASA) & Luca Parmitano (ESA) will launch aboard the Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and then rendezvous with the station. It landed on 11 November 2013 at 02:49 UTC
Low Earth OrbitThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.