http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas 77058

February 2024

Kjell N. Lindgren

(M.D.) NASA Astronaut

Summary:

Dr. Kjell N. Lindgren was selected by NASA in 2009. Growing up in an Air Force family, he spent most of his childhood 

abroad and returned to the U.S. to complete his education with an undergraduate degree from the U.S. Airforce 

Academy and a Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Colorado. He is residency trained in both emergency and 

aerospace medicine. He joined NASA as a flight surgeon in 2007 and served as the Deputy Crew Surgeon for STS-130 and 

Expedition 24. He was selected as an astronaut in June 2009 as one of 14 members of the 20th NASA astronaut class. In 

2015, Dr. Lindgren flew on Expedition 44/45 and logged 141 days in space. He participated in two spacewalks and in 

more than a hundred different scientific experiments. Dr. Lindgren served as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 

mission. Crew-4 launched on Apr. 27, 2022 to the International Space Station joining Expedition 67 for an additional 170 

days on orbit, returning home on Oct. 14, 2022. Dr. Lindgren has spent a cumulative total of 311 days in space. He

currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Flight Operations Directorate (FOD).

Personal Data:

Born in Taipei, Taiwan. Lived in the midwestern United States, but spent most of his childhood overseas living in the 

United Kingdom. Married to the former Kristiana Jones. They have three children. His parents, Randahl and Anita 

Lindgren, reside in Burke, Virginia. Interests include spending time with his family, scouting, reading, movies and church 

activities.

Education:

Completed his freshman year at Lakenheath High School in the United Kingdom. Participated in Virginia’s Governor’s 

School at William and Mary College during the summer of 1990. Graduated from James W. Robinson Secondary School 

Fairfax, Virginia in 1991. Received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology (minor in Mandarin Chinese) from the U.S. Air 

Force Academy in 1995; a Master of Science degree in cardiovascular physiology from Colorado State University (CSU) in 

1996; and a Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Colorado in 2002. Completed a three-year residency in 

emergency medicine, including a chief resident year at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 

2005. Completed a National Library of Medicine Post-Doctoral Fellowship and Master of Health Informatics at the 

University of Minnesota in 2006. Completed a two-year residency in aerospace medicine (2008) and a Master of Public 

Health (2007) at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, Texas. Dr. Lindgren is board certified in 

emergency medicine.

Experience:

At the U.S. Air Force Academy, Dr. Lindgren was a member of the “Wings of Blue” parachute team, where he served as 

an instructor, a jumpmaster and a member of the academy’s intercollegiate national championship team. As a part of his 

masters studies at CSU, Dr. Lindgren conducted cardiovascular countermeasure research in the Space Physiology Lab at 

NASA’s Ames Research Center in Sunnyvale, CA. He conducted high-altitude physiology research during medical school. 

Dr. Lindgren began working at Johnson Space Center in 2007. As a flight surgeon, he supported International Space 
http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies

Kjell N. Lindgren

Station training and operations in Star City, Russia and water survival training in Ukraine. At the time of his selection to 

the astronaut corps, he was serving as the Deputy Crew Surgeon for STS-130 and Expedition 24.

NASA Experience:

Dr. Lindgren was selected in June 2009 as one of 14 members of the 20th NASA astronaut class. Following the 

completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Spacecraft Communicator 

(CAPCOM) branch and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) branch. Dr. Lindgren served as lead CAPCOM for Expedition 30. In 

2013, he started training for Expedition 44/45. After his first spaceflight, Dr. Lindgren served as the Assigned Crew 

Branch Chief, responsible for crewmembers in training and in flight. He went on to serve as the Deputy Chief of the 

Flight Integration Division, the organization within the Flight Operations Directorate responsible for integrating training, 

operational safety, risk management, test and development across divisions and programs at Johnson Space Center. Dr. 

Lindgren was subsequently assigned to serve as the sole back up crewmember for Demo-2, the test flight of the SpaceX 

Crew Dragon. He was then assigned to command NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to join Expedition 67 on the ISS. Dr. 

Lindgren currently serves as the Deputy Director of the Flight Operations Directorate.

Spaceflight Experience:

Expedition 44/45 (July 2015 to December 2015) - Along with crewmates Russian Space Agency cosmonaut Oleg 

Kononenko and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, Dr. Lindgren launched on the Soyuz TMA-17M (callsign Antares) from the 

Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on July 23, 2015 and docked to the station after four orbits. They joined Expedition 

44 crew members Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and “One Year Mission” crew members NASA astronaut Scott 

Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. During their 141 days aboard the station, the Antares crew participated 

in more than a hundred different scientific experiments including research in human physiology, fluid and combustion 

physics, Earth and space science and technology development. Their research included work with the “Veggie” lettuce 

experiment which represented the first time a U.S. crew has eaten a crop grown on orbit. The crew conducted dozens of 

repairs and enhancements to the station’s systems, including the installation of the NORS high pressure gas 

replenishment system and internal cabling in preparation for the commercial crew vehicle docking and the Node 1 

galley. Dr. Lindgren and Expedition 45 Commander Scott Kelly conducted two spacewalks in late 2015. During their first 

spacewalk, Lindgren installed a thermal blanket on the Alpha-Magnetic Spectrometer and routed external cables, while 

Kelly performed maintenance on the station robotic arm. Their second spacewalk focused on maintenance of the station 

external thermal control system. Lindgren, Yui and Kononenko landed their Soyuz spacecraft in Kazakhstan on December 

11, 2015. He logged 141 days in space and 15 hours and four minutes of spacewalk time.

Expedition 67 (April 2022 to October 2022) – Dr. Lindgren served as commander of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-4 mission to the 

International Space Station. Joined by first time fliers, pilot Bob “Farmer” Hines, and mission specialist Jessica “Watty”

Watkins, and veteran ESA astronaut and mission specialist Samantha Cristoferetti, Dr. Lindgren launched on the Crew 

Dragon Freedom to join Expedition 67 crewmates Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov on the ISS. The 

Expedition 67 crew conducted over 100 experiments in multiple disciplines, including research on fiber optic cable 

production, fluid dynamics, human immune cell function and wound healing. In a “sequel” to the Veggie research 

conducted during his first mission, Dr. Lindgren grew a number of different plants using hydro- and aeroponics. In 

addition to working the SpaceX 25 cargo mission, the Expedition 67 crew welcomed the Orbital Flight Test 2 capsules to 

the ISS – the first successful docking and on-orbit assessment of the Boeing Starliner vehicle. On October 14, 2022 Dr. 

Lindgren and his Crew-4 crewmates departed the space station and landed off the coast of Florida, in the Atlantic Ocean 

– the first NASA crew to do so since Apollo 9. As part of Expedition 67, Dr. Lindgren logged an additional 170 days on the 

ISS for a cumulative total of 311 days in space.
http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies

Kjell N. Lindgren

Awards/Honors:

NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2022, 2016); Space Exploration Medal (2022); NASA Space Flight Medal (2016); 

General Counsel’s Commendation (2015); NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal (2013); UTMB Outstanding Resident 

Award (2008); Distinguished Graduate, U.S. Air Force Primary Flight Surgeon Course (2007); William K. Douglas 

Aerospace Medicine Scholarship (2007); Hippocrates Award, University of Colorado School of Medicine (2002); Richard 

C. Hardin Award, University of Colorado School of Medicine (2001); Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society (2001); Edgar and 

Marion Adler Scholar, University of Colorado School of Medicine (2001, 2002); U.S. Air Force Achievement Medal (1998).

Organizations: 

Fellow of the Aerospace Medical Association; Fellow of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine; Member of the 

Association of Space Explorers; Texas Master Naturalist; Alpha Omega Alpha Medical Honor Society; Space Medicine 

Association; Christian Medical and Dental Associations and National Eagle Scout Association.

Pronunciation: 

CHELL LIND-grin