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ISU ALUM READY TO SOAR
 

When NASA launches the space shuttle Atlantis in June 2007, its crew will include the first Iowa State University alum to become an astronaut. Clayton C. Anderson, who earned his master’s degree in aerospace engineering at Iowa State in 1983, will travel to the International Space Station (ISS) where he will spend up to four months as a member of the Expedition 15 crew. And, he’s prepared to give Iowa State some visibility in outer space. At a meeting in Houston last year, Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy presented Anderson a university pennant, hat, and shirt to take on his space mission.

Operating the robotic arm

Once he arrives on the ISS, Anderson will operate the station’s complex 55-foot robotic arm used to assemble the station. “The station is put together like tinker toys,” he explains. “A segment of truss structure housing a solar array requires a ‘spacer’/connector to be attached to the piece of truss, and then another truss segment and solar array to that spacer. I’ll use the arm to move and attach all of the segments.” When finished, the ISS will not only aid in exploration of the solar system but, as a unique low-gravity research complex, will facilitate experiments that will benefit life on Earth.

Anderson, who will be 48 when he heads into space, is thrilled with his assignment. “It’s very exciting to know that I’ll be doing something measurable in terms of helping the United States and our international partners press ahead and complete the station,” he says. The assignment has required rigorous training and long separations from his wife, Susan, and children—Clayton Cole, 10, and Sutton Marie, 5—but it’s a goal Anderson has eagerly pursued.

A dream takes shape

Born and raised in Nebraska, Anderson first became interested in space flight in 1968 when he watched Apollo 8 circle around the moon and broadcast a message back to Earth. The possibility that he might one day be a part of the space program, however, didn’t really take shape until his college years. As a physics major at Hastings College in Nebraska, he applied to the NASA internship program at Johnson Space Center and was, in his words, “fortunate to be accepted.”

After his first summer at NASA in 1981, Anderson began his MS work in aerospace engineering at Iowa State where he had received a graduate fellowship. His MS research and thesis, “The Development of a Technique to Separate the Space Shuttle Orbiter from a Deployed, Passive Payload,” came from a project he was assigned at NASA. Following graduation in 1983, he joined the space agency full time in the Mission Planning and Analysis Division.

Over the next 15 years, Anderson held a variety of positions from designing shuttle flight paths to managing the Emergency Operations Center. While he’s had many memorable experiences, his first work with a shuttle crew remains a highlight. “My goal had always been to work with and for the astronauts, and now I was actually doing it,” he explains about his involvement with STS-7, which launched on June 18, 1983. That was the Challenger’s second flight, and the crew included Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel in space.

A step closer to space

Anderson’s role changed dramatically in 1998 when, at age 39, he was selected into the astronaut-training program. Astronaut trainees range in age from 26 to 45, with the average at 34. The initial training included scientific and technical briefings, instruction in shuttle and ISS systems, physiological training, ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques.

As an astronaut, Anderson led the development of the Enhanced Caution and Warning System as part of the Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade Project. The goal was to implement new technologies to make it easier for the astronauts to diagnose and correct problems that occur in flight. Anderson also learned how to perform spacewalks in the Extravehicular Activity Skills program, and he spent two weeks in the Aquarius Underwater Habitat off the coast of Florida as part of NASA Extreme Environment Missions Operations.

Prepare for flight

Anderson’s hope for a space mission jumped from indefinite possibility to foreseeable future in December 2003 when he received word to begin preparation for space flight and an ISS mission. Over the last three years, he’s had intense theoretical and hands-on classes focused on gaining a working knowledge of both the U.S. and Russian operating systems used on the space station.

The training regimen has included numerous lengthy visits to Star City, Russia. Anderson has learned about the Soyuz, the Russian spacecraft that serves as the ISS emergency evacuation vehicle, and he’s been fitted for U.S. and Russian space suits so he can perform space walks. He’s also endured winter survival expeditions in both Russia and the United States. Anderson highlights many of his training experiences in a comprehensive online journal.

While Anderson has had to wait a long time for this opportunity, he says it’s easier to be patient when you’re busy getting ready to go. “Several members of my class had been assigned to flight in 2003, but then the Columbia accident happened,” he explains. “Once we got past the pain of that tragedy, we had to focus on the grind of the work with no shuttle flights in sight.”

NASA spent over three years correcting the problem of foam shedding during launch, which caused the Columbia to disintegrate upon reentry on February 1, 2003. As of last July shuttle launches have resumed, and a demanding schedule is in place to complete the ISS by 2010.

With his June 2007 launch on the schedule, Anderson expects time to go by quickly. “My training for the station will ramp up, and, as we get closer to the launch date, training will focus more on the shuttle, since that’s what will get me into space,” he adds. His excitement is obvious; after all, he first dreamed of this day nearly 40 years ago.