Clayton Anderson | |
|---|---|
_2.jpg) Anderson in 2009 | |
| Born | Clayton Conrad Anderson (1959-02-23)February 23, 1959 (age 66) Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. |
| Education | Hastings College (BS) Iowa State University (MS) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 166d 21h 10m |
| Selection | NASA Group 17 (1998) |
TotalEVAs | 6 |
Total EVA time | 38h 28m |
| Missions | Expedition 15/16 (STS-117 /STS-120) STS-131 |
Mission insignia |      |
Clayton Conrad Anderson (born February 23, 1959) is a retiredNASAastronaut. Launched onSTS-117, he replacedSunita Williams on June 10, 2007, as a member of the ISSExpedition 15 crew.[1] He is currently an author, a motivational speaker, and aProfessor of Practice at Iowa State University inAmes, Iowa. In 2022 he became the president and CEO of theStrategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum.
Anderson graduated from Ashland-Greenwood High School,Ashland, Nebraska, 1977, received a Bachelor of Science degree (cum laude) in physics atHastings College, Nebraska, in 1981 and a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering atIowa State University in 1983.[2]
Selected as anastronaut candidate by NASA in June 1998, he reported for training in August of that year. Training included orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) systems, physiological training, ground school to prepare forT-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques.[2]
Prior to being assigned to a spaceflight, Anderson served as the lead for the Enhanced Caution and Warning (ECW) System development effort within the Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade (CAU) Project. Previously, he was the crew support astronaut for ISSExpedition 4, providing ground support on technical issues in addition to supporting the crew families. Anderson also served as an ISS Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) and as the Astronaut Office crew representative for the Station's electrical power system. In November 2002, Anderson completed training in the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Skills program. He was back-up flight engineer forExpedition 12,Expedition 13 andExpedition 14 to theInternational Space Station.
Anderson served as an astronaut family escort for theSTS-107 mission at the request ofRick Husband.[3]
In June 2003, Anderson served as anaquanaut during theNEEMO 5 mission aboard theAquariusunderwater laboratory, living and working underwater for fourteen days.[4] During a NEEMO 5 underwater EVA, Anderson cut his thumb with a knife. The wound was stitched up by hand surgeon and extreme medicine specialistKenneth Kamler, who was observing the NEEMO project and dove to Aquarius to perform the procedure.[5]
He was a mission specialist onSTS-131, launched in April 2010. The primary payload of this mission was a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module loaded with supplies and equipment for the International Space Station.
Anderson was a member of the Expedition 15 crew and spent 152 days on board the International Space Station. He launched to the station aboard ShuttleAtlantis as mission specialist 5 for the STS-117 mission on June 8, 2007,[6] and remained on board as a member of theExpedition 16 crew before returning to earth aboardDiscovery on missionSTS-120 on November 7, 2007. On return his official title was mission specialist 5.[7] Two of the photos that he took during his July and August 2007 spacewalks were listed onPopular Science's photo gallery of the bestastronaut selfies.[8]
Anderson continued a tradition aboard the International Space Station, started byMichael Lopez-Alegria, of conducting daily "trivia" contests with mission control team members on the ground.[9] During Alegria's seven-month stay on the station he would routinely call down movie quotes and challenge the team members to determine the movie the quote was from. Towards the end of his mission, he changed to music trivia playing a portion of a song and challenging the team to complete the line. Anderson has taken this tradition and put his own personal twist on it, using the "Book of Answers: TheNew York Public Library Telephone Reference Service's Most Unusual and Entertaining Questions". Anderson often played song clips for the ground control team, or specific individuals, most notably when he played the song "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" byBryan Adams for his wife on her birthday.
In May 2022 he became the president and CEO of theStrategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum, a museum in his hometown of Ashland.[10]
Anderson was born in Omaha but considersAshland, Nebraska to be his hometown. Married to Susan Jane Anderson (née Harreld) ofElkhart, Indiana. They have two children, a son and a daughter. His mother, Alice J. Anderson, died in December 2007, shortly after his return to Earth. His father, John T. Anderson, is deceased.
Like many of the other astronauts and cosmonauts, he is a licensed amateur radio operator having passed the technician class license exam in 2001 and was issued the call sign KD5PLA by theFederal Communications Commission on August 13, 2001.[11]During his stay on the ISS in September 2007, he used one of the two amateur radio stations on board to talk with school children.[12]
Anderson is the first and only astronaut from Nebraska and was widely reported in news media as the astronaut rejected fourteen times by NASA before being accepted in 1998.[13] Anderson eventually retired from NASA in January 2013 after serving fifteen years and is now in education.[14]
Southwest Basketball Officials Association; Former Men's College Basketball Official: Red River Athletic, Southern Collegiate Athletic, Heart of Texas, Lone Star, and Texas/New Mexico Junior College Athletic Conferences; Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA); Johnson Space Center Employee Activities Association: Vice President of Athletics (1987–1992); Clear Lake Optimist Club Past President and Vice President. Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society, Hastings College, Hastings Nebraska (1980–1981).[2]American Legion Cornhusker Boys State Alumni
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
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