Catherine Coleman Catherine Grace " Cady " Coleman ( born December 14 , 1960 ) is an American chemist , a former United States Air Force officer , and a current NASA astronaut . She is a veteran of two Space Shuttle missions , and departed the International Space Station on May 23 , 2011 , as a crew member of Expedition 27 after logging 159 days in space . Education . Coleman graduated from Wilbert Tucker Woodson High School , Fairfax , Virginia , in 1978 ; in 1978 – 1979 she was an exchange student at Røyken upper secondary school in Norway with the AFS Intercultural Programs . She received a bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1983 , and a doctorate in polymer science and engineering from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1991 as a member of the Air Force ROTC . She was a member of the intercollegiate crew and was a resident of Baker House . Military career . After completing her regular education , Coleman joined the U . S . Air Force as a Second Lieutenant while continuing her graduate work for a PhD at the University of Massachusetts Amherst . In 1988 she entered active duty at Wright - Patterson Air Force Base as a research chemist . During her work she participated as a surface analysis consultant on the NASA Long Duration Exposure Facility experiment . In 1991 she received her doctorate in polymer science and engineering . She retired from the Air Force in November 2009 . NASA career . 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 - 1 with experiments including biotechnology , combustion science and the physics of fluids . During the flight , she reported to Houston Mission Control that she had spotted an unidentified flying object . She also trained for the mission STS - 83 to be the backup for Donald A . Thomas ; however , as he recovered on time , she did not fly that mission . 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 . Coleman served as Chief of Robotics for the Astronaut Office , to include robotic arm operations and training for all Space Shuttle and International Space Station missions . In October 2004 , Coleman served as an aquanaut during the mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory , living and working underwater for eleven days . Coleman was assigned as a backup U . S . crew member for Expeditions , and and served as a backup crew member for Expeditions and as part of her training for Expedition 26 . Coleman launched on December 15 , 2010 ( December 16 Baikonur time ) , aboard Soyuz TMA - 20 to join the Expedition 26 mission aboard the International Space Station . Spaceflight experience . STS - 73 on Space Shuttle " Columbia " ( October 20 to November 5 , 1995 ) was the second United States Microgravity Laboratory mission . The mission focused on materials science , biotechnology , 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 phenomena such as exploding stars , quasars , and black holes . Mission duration was 118 hours and 50 minutes . Soyuz TMA - 20 / Expedition 26 / ( December 15 , 2010 , to May 23 , 2011 ) was an extended duration mission to the International Space Station . Personal . Coleman is married to glass art ist Josh Simpson who lives in Massachusetts . They have one son . She is part of the band Bandella , which also includes fellow NASA astronaut Steven Robinson , Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield , and Micki Pettit ( astronaut Don Pettit ' s wife ) . Coleman is a flute player and has taken several flutes with her to the ISS , including a pennywhistle from Paddy Moloney of the Chieftains , an old Irish flute from Matt Molloy of the Chieftains , and a flute from Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull . On February 15 , 2011 , she played one of the instruments live from orbit on National Public Radio . On April 12 , 2011 , she played live through video link for the audience of Jethro Tull ' s show in Russia in honour of the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin ' s flight . She played the duet from orbit while Anderson played on the ground in Russia . On May 13 of that year , Coleman delivered a taped commencement address to the class of 2011 at the University of Massachusetts Amherst . As do many other astronauts , Coleman holds an amateur radio license ( callsign : KC5ZTH ) .