November 6 – 8
Seattle, WA

Astronaut Fireside Chat Members

Daniel Tani

Director

Northrop Grumman Space Systems

Dan Tani Headshot

Mr. Daniel (Dan) Tani is a Director in the Human Exploration and Operations unit in Northrop Grumman Space Systems, located in Dulles, VA.

From 2012 to 2022, Dan held several roles in the government, non-profit, education and private sectors. Most recently he was the chief of the IN-SPIRE Office at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; he served as the Director of Foundation Grants at the US-Japan Foundation; was a faculty member at The American School in Japan where he taught Middle and High School Science and Technology; and was the Vice President for Cargo and Mission Operations at Orbital ATK (was Orbital Sciences Corporation), a Washington DC-area aerospace company.

From 1996 to 2012, Dan was an astronaut based at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In his 16 year career at NASA, he flew on 2 space missions, for an accumulated 132 days in space, featuring 6 space walks. On his first spaceflight (2001), he served as a Mission Specialist on the 12-day STS-108 mission aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. On his second spaceflight (2007-2008), he served as a Flight Engineer for 4 months aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as a member of the Expedition 16 crew. He was delivered to the ISS as a member of the STS-120 crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery, and was returned to Earth as a member of the STS-122 crew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. His spaceflight preparation included extensive training at the cosmonaut training facility in Star City, Russia; hiking and sea kayaking with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); winter and sea survival courses; high performance jet flying; and serving as a member of the NEEMO-2 crew where he worked and lived in an underwater habitat for 8 days. In addition to his training and preparation for spaceflight, Dan served as Capsule Communicator (“Capcom”) in Mission Control, was a Branch Chief in the Astronaut Office’s Space Station branch, and performed other technical assignments.

Originally from the Chicago area, Dan is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Techology, having received a BS and MS in Mechanical Engineering. He is a 3rd generation Japanese-American and the son of parents that were interned at the Topaz Relocation Center as part of the mandatory evacuation of Japanese descendants during World War II. A mediocre but avid golfer, he lives with his wife Jane (from Cork, Ireland) and 3 children in Northern Virginia.

Dorothy (Dottie) Metcalf- Lindenburger

Speaker | Educator | Geologist

Retired NASA Astronaut

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger grew up along the Front Range of Colorado. She graduated from Fort Collins High School, where she ran on two state championship cross-country teams and placed second as a Science Olympiad team member.
A scholar athlete, she ran cross-country and track and earned her B.A. in Geology from Whitman College. She went on to get a teaching certification from Central Washington University, and she taught earth science and astronomy for five years at Hudson’s Bay High School in Vancouver, WA. In addition to teaching, she coached cross country and Science Olympiad.

In June of 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) selected her to join the Astronaut Corps. After several years of training, she flew as a mission specialist on the STS-131 crew, an International Space Station (ISS) resupply mission. Dottie served as Mission Specialist 2 (also known as the flight engineer), a robotic arm operator, the Intra-vehicular crew member (the inside coordinator of the spacewalks), and a transfer crew member (helping move six tons of hardware and equipment). The mission lasted fifteen days.

During June of 2012, Dottie commanded the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operation (NEEMO) in the Aquarius Reef Habitat off the Florida coast. The 16th underwater mission sought to develop techniques for working at an asteroid, while operating under a 100-second time delay.

In June of 2014, Dottie retired from the Astronaut Corps and returned to the Pacific Northwest with her family. She earned her M.S. in applied geology at the University of Washington and worked as a geologist for Geosyntec Consultants. In 2023. Dottie founded her own business, Dottie ML, LLC. She is a professional speaker, continuing to promote Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) education. She also volunteers as a board member for Challenger Learning Center, the Seattle Museum of Flight, and the Presidential Advisory Board for Whitman College.