Linnehan was born September 19, 1957, in Lowell, Massachusetts, and was raised by his paternal grandparents, Henry and Mae Linnehan. He grew up in the state of New Hampshire. He is single and enjoys various sports, outdoor activities and natural history.
Selected by NASA in March 1992, Linnehan reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992 where he completed one year of astronaut candidate training, qualifying him for Space Shuttle flight assignments as a mission specialist. Linnehan was initially assigned to flight software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). He was subsequently assigned to the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch, working on payload development, and mission development flight support for future Space Shuttle missions. He first flew as a mission specialist in 1996 on STS-78, the Life Sciences and Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) mission. In 1998, he served as the payload commander on the STS-90 Neurolab mission. In 2002, he was a member of the four-man EVA crew on STS-109 the fourth Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. In 2008, he was the lead spacewalker on [(STS-123)] 1JA, an ISS assembly mission where he performed three EVAs and supervised the remaining two during the installation of the JEM module and Canadian SPDM. A veteran of four space flights, Linnehan has logged over 59 days in space, including six EVAs (spacewalks) totaling 42 hours and 11 minutes.[1]
As of 2020, Linnehan is a management astronaut and no longer eligible for NASA Space flight assignments. Dr. Linnehan splits his time between the Astronaut Office Exploration and Integration branches and the NASA Institutional Review Board (IRB) and JSC Institutional, and NASA Flight, Animal Care and Use Committees (IACUCs).[1]
Spaceflight experience
STS-78 LMS (June 20 to July 7, 1996). The Life Sciences and Microgravity Spacelab mission was flown aboard Space Shuttle Columbia. The 17-day flight included studies sponsored by ten nations and five space agencies, and was the first mission to combine both a full microgravity studies agenda and a comprehensive life sciences payload. STS-78 orbited the Earth 271 times, and covered 7,000,000 miles (11,000,000 km) in 405 hours and 48 minutes.
STS-90 Neurolab (April 17 to May 3, 1998) was Linnehan's second Spacelab mission. During the 16-day flight the seven-person crew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia served as both experimental subjects and operators for 26 individual life science experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and nervous system. STS-90 orbited the Earth 256 times, and covered 6,300,000 miles (10,100,000 km) in 381 hours and 50 minutes. Both missions served as a model for future life sciences studies on board the International Space Station.
STS-109 HST Servicing Mission 3B (March 1 to March 12, 2002) was the fourth Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission and Linnehan's third flight aboard Columbia. The crew of STS-109 successfully upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope's systems over the course of five consecutive EVAs, leaving it with a new power control unit, improved solar arrays, the new Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS), and an experimental refrigeration unit for cooling the dormant Near Infrared Camera and Multi-Object Spectrometer (NICMOS). With his teammate John Grunsfeld, Linnehan performed three of the five spacewalks totaling 21 hours and 9 minutes. STS-109 orbited the Earth 165 times and covered 3,900,000 miles (6,300,000 km) in just over 262 hours.