Kjell Lindgren

Kjell Norwood Lindgren, born in 1973, brought an emergency physician's calm to the astronaut corps. He earned a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a master's in cardiovascular physiology, an M.D. from the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and later a residency in aerospace medicine together with a master's in public health from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Board-certified in both emergency and aerospace medicine, he served as a NASA flight surgeon supporting International Space Station crews before the agency selected him as an astronaut in 2009. Fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Russian, a bagpiper, a distance runner, and a lifelong Star Wars fan, he arrived with an unusually broad set of interests that would later color his time in orbit.

Lindgren has flown two long-duration missions. The first came in 2015 on Expeditions 44 and 45, a stay of roughly 141 days during which he conducted two spacewalks in the autumn of that year with commander Scott Kelly, installing a thermal cover on a failed valve, routing external cables, and performing maintenance on the station's external systems. That mission also produced one of the more human moments in station history when, in November 2015, he played a specially made set of bagpipes aboard the outpost as a memorial to a colleague. In 2022 he returned as commander of NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 mission, launching aboard a Crew Dragon and joining Expeditions 67 and 68 for a stay of about 170 days before returning to Earth on October 14, 2022. Across his two flights he has accumulated on the order of 311 days in space and two spacewalks, a record built on leadership as much as time aloft.

Lindgren's significance lies in the fusion of medicine, command, and outreach that has defined his career. His flight-surgeon background makes him a natural advocate for the space medicine research that long-duration and deep-space missions will require, and his recognitions, including the NASA Spaceflight Medal and the Aerospace Medical Association's Julian Ward Award, reflect that expertise. Beyond the technical work he has used bagpipes, running, and his openness about faith and family to connect the experience of spaceflight to a wide audience, embodying his stated belief that the view of Earth from space is something everyone should experience. An active NASA astronaut, he continues to serve within the corps and to apply his medical training toward the goal of enabling humans to travel safely farther from home.