IN MEMORY OF MICHAEL ANDERSON
On Saturday, February 1st, while descending back to earth from a 16-day voyage in space,
the Columbia Space Shuttle caught fire and disintegrated over east Texas.
All 7 astronauts on board, including African-American Payload Commander Michael Anderson were killed.
Michael Anderson was born on December 25, 1959 in Plattsburgh, NY. He grew up in Spokane, Washington, and graduated from Cheney High School in 1977.
In 1981, he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics/Astronomy from the University of Washington.
Shortly after receiving his Bachelors degree, Anderson was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Air Force.
He later went on to serve as Chief of Communication Maintenance and Director of Information System Maintenance.
In 1990, he earned his Master Of Science degree in Physics from Creighton University.
After attending Undergraduate Pilot Training, Anderson then became an EC 135 pilot, and quickly advanced to serve as an aircraft commander, instructor pilot, and tactics officer.
Anderson began working for NASA in March 1995, and after training and evaluation, was qualified for flight crew assignment as a mission specialist.
His first space mission in 1998 was on the STS-89 where he logged over 211 hours in space.
On this mission, he had the opportunity to dock with the Russian space station.
The recent and disasterous Columbia Space Shuttle mission (STS-107) was his second trip to space.
In his career, Anderson was awarded with the 1983 Armed Forces Communication Electronics Associations Academic Excellence Award,
the USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training Academic Achievement Award, and the Defense Superior Service Medal.
Michael Anderson was 42 years-old when he died. He enjoyed photography, chess, computers, and tennis. He is survived by a wife and two children.
African-American Astronauts
Guion S. Bluford became the first African-American to go into space in August 1983 aboard the Challenger. It was the first launch and landing of a space shuttle at night. His mission on this flight included the deployment of an Indian communications satellite. He later served as a mission specialist on Challenger (October 30, 1985) and Discovery (April 28, 1991 and December 2, 1992).
Charles F. Bolden was the pilot on the space shuttle mission aboard the Discovery (April 24, 1990) which launched the Hubble space telescope and set an altitude record at 640 kilometres. He was also the pilot on Columbia (January 12, 1986) and Atlantis (March 24, 1992); and mission commander on Discovery (February 3, 1994).
Frederick D. Gregory became the first African-American Space Commander on the space shuttle mission aboard the Discovery (November 22, 1989) which deployed a satellite for the Department of Defense. On his first space flight, he was the pilot on Challenger (April 29, 1985) and he served as commander on Atlantis (November 24, 1991).
Mae C. Jemison became the first African-American woman to travel in space on the shuttle mission aboard the Endeavor (September 12, 1992), where she conducted experiments to study the effects of zero gravity on people and animals.
Bernard J. Harris became the first African-American to walk in space during the space shuttle Discovery’s mission (February 2, 1995), which included a rendezvous with the Russian Space Station, Mir. He was also a mission specialist on Columbia (April 26, 1993), where he conducted research in physical and life sciences.
Ronald E. McNair was one of the seven crew members who were killed when the Challenger exploded 73 seconds after its launch on January 28, 1986. On this mission, he was supposed to carry out extensive studies on Halley’s Comet. He previously served on the Challenger (February 3, 1984)
