Clayton Anderson 2008

Clayton C. Anderson

MS '83, Aerospace Engineering
League City, Texas

Millions of American children dream of one day becoming astronauts, but few live that dream. Iowa State alumnus Clay Anderson (MS ’83 aerospace engineering) is one of those proud few.

A Nebraska native who earned his bachelor’s degree from Hastings College, Anderson worked for NASA’s Johnson Space Center for 15 years in mission planning and analysis and mission operations before being named chief of the flight design and dynamics division branch in 1993. He was selected by NASA as a mission specialist in 1998 and began training for spaceflight. Anderson was the crew support astronaut for International Space Station Expedition 4 and the back-up flight engineer for Expeditions 12, 13, and 14.

In 2007 his childhood dream came true: He was launched to the International Space Station aboard the Shuttle Atlantis as the flight engineer for Expedition 15. On June 8, 2007, Clayton Anderson became the first Iowa Stater in space.

Anderson’s five months in space as part of the crew of STS-117 featured spacewalks, station repairs, experiments, and technology tests. The research done by the crew will have a global impact on the future of space travel and, for Anderson, was the crowning achievement in a career that has focused on that exact goal.

As a member of an International Space Station expedition, Anderson is in elite company. Only 21 Americans have spent time as part of an ISS Expedition. In addition, NASA selects approximately 20 astronauts every two years from a pool of 4,000 highly qualified and trained candidates.

Underscoring Anderson’s qualification to participate in last summer’s mission was his receipt of NASA’s Quality and Safety Achievement Recognition Award in 1998 and his breadth of experience in engineering, design, mission support, and emergency operations.

Anderson has been recognized with an honorary doctorate from Hastings College, and in 2001 he received the National Council of Alpha Chi Honor Society’s Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has been involved with such organizations as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Johnson Space Center Employee Activities Association, Clear Lake Optimist Club, Alpha Chi, and the Southwest Basketball Officials Association.

Anderson is an ISU Alumni Association annual member. He and his wife, Susan Harreld Anderson, live in League City, Texas, with their son, Cole, and daughter, Sutton.