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Local Teacher Begins Journey Toward Space ; Dottie Metcalf- Lindenburger Sworn in As Astronaut Candidate

Posted on: Tuesday, 15 June 2004, 06:00 CDT

Two weeks ago, Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger taught Hudson's Bay High School students about stars. Monday, she started her journey toward them.

Metcalf-Lindenburger, 29, was one of 11 astronaut candidates sworn in Monday at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston. She is one of three teachers chosen to become the first educator astronauts, a program that goes beyond the "teacher-in-space" concept that landed Christa McAuliffe a seat on the Challenger.

Metcalf-Lindenburger taught astronomy and coached the girls' cross-country team for five years at Hudson's Bay. She spotted the educator-astronaut application on the NASA Web site in January 2003. From then, she completed applications, polished her resume, underwent physical tests, was interviewed and even went on a diet (part of the criteria was to meet a certain weight).

Over the next two years, Metcalf-Lindenburger will learn to fly a plane, fix a space station, operate a space shuttle and more. After the training, she will become an astronaut, receive an assignment and eventually, perhaps, go on a mission.

Her husband, Jason Metcalf-Lindenburger, will move to Houston in mid-July, after finishing the school year teaching at McLoughlin Middle School. He has landed a job as a middle school history teacher at a Houston-area school.

Here is what Metcalf-Lindenburger had to say on her first day as a NASA astronaut candidate:

How has the first day on the job been so far?

Very exciting. This morning we came in and got our official badges, so that we can now get onto the NASA site without any problems, and that was kind of nice to now be official. And then the really neat part today was the swearing-in, where we took the oath of civil servant officers.

Next week you are off to Pensacola (Fla.) Naval Air Station for basic flight training. Have you ever flown before?

No, no. So this is going to be very exciting. We are there until the end of July doing water survival training and flight lessons. We will never fly alone, but we will fly with a trainer in the T-38s and T-34s.

When you spoke to the students on your last day at Hudson's Bay, you compared space exploration to the Lewis and Clark expedition. How does it feel to be a part of a new group of explorers?

It would be pretty amazing if Lewis and Clark saw what the Pacific Northwest looks like today, and they realized just what a big impact they had on our country, and to the rest of the world, too. It's strange to think that's kind of what we are as we look out on the solar system and we look to Mars and think about going there. I'm sure that not too far off there will be people looking back from Mars to Earth thinking about the groups of astronauts and cosmonauts and everyone who lead the way to get there. It's strange to think of us as explorers, but it takes people starting off on the adventure.

What do you hope to accomplish as an astronaut?

I would really like to get a mission eventually, and I know that's going to take some time and waiting, but in the meantime I would just like to do my best at the task before me. A lot of these things are not in the job description of a high school teacher, and I just want to do a good job at learning how to fly and learning about all of the systems on the International Space Station and on the shuttle, and doing the survival training. Some of those are like cool adventures in themselves, and to have it all in one job title is just pretty awesome to me.

What do you think you'll miss the most about being a classroom teacher?

I'm going to miss the fun stuff that kids do in just being themselves. The one-on-one relationships that you develop with kids where you can see that you're making a difference in their learning. ...t having my own classroom anymore, that will be very different.

I am excited that I get to look at education maybe in a little bit different way, where now it's like the country is my classroom, and I get to share with many people the excitement of space exploration and the reasons why we should study science and math.

You are being called a real-life example of someone living out her dreams. What does that mean to you, and what do you hope young people can learn from your example?

It is true that kids need to have good heroes and heroines. I've always tried to live my life respectfully and be kind to others and do all the things that are really important to being a good person, and so I thought that even though it seems strange to me to be considered someone's hero or to be the big role model, I guess I'm proud to accept that position, because I do feel like that's how I try to live my life.

Amy McFall Prince covers education for The Columbian. She can be reached at amy.prince@olumbian.com or 360-759-8019.

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