Michael Phillip Anderson (December 25, 1959 – February 1, 2003) was a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

officer and

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

. Anderson and his six fellow crew members were killed in the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' disaster when the

craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale pr ...

disintegrated during its

re-entry Atmospheric entry is the movement of an object from outer space into and through the gases of an atmosphere of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite. There are two main types of atmospheric entry: ''uncontrolled entry'', such as the entr ...

into the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing fo ...

. Anderson served as the payload commander and lieutenant colonel in charge of science experiments on the ''Columbia''. Anderson was posthumously awarded the

Congressional Space Medal of Honor The Congressional Space Medal of Honor was authorized by the United States Congress in 1969 to recognize "any astronaut who in the performance of his or her duties has distinguished himself or herself by exceptionally meritorious efforts and con ...

Early life and education

Born in 1959 to Barbara Anderson and Bobbie Anderson, Michael was an only child and his father serviced jets on

Plattsburgh Air Force Base Plattsburgh Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force Strategic Air Command (SAC) base covering 3,447 acres (13.7 km²) in the extreme northeast corner of New York, located on the western shore of Lake Champlain opposite Burlingt ...

near

Plattsburgh, New York Plattsburgh ( moh, Tsi ietsénhtha) is a city in, and the seat of, Clinton County, New York, United States, situated on the north-western shore of Lake Champlain. The population was 19,841 at the 2020 census. The population of the surroundin ...

. Bobbie Anderson was transferred to

Fairchild Air Force Base Fairchild Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force base, located in the northwest United States in eastern Washington, approximately southwest of Spokane. The host unit at Fairchild is the 92nd Air Refueling Wing (92 ARW) assigned ...

, about 12 miles away from

Spokane, Washington Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the ...

, which Anderson spoke of as his hometown. He graduated from Cheney High School in

Cheney, Washington Cheney ( ) is a city in Spokane County, Washington, United States. The full-time resident population was 13,255 as of 2020 census. Eastern Washington University is located in Cheney. When classes are in session at EWU, the city's population rea ...

, one of four

African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

in a class of 200 students. In 1981, Anderson earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University o ...

degree in physics and astronomy from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seatt ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region o ...

, and in 1990 he was awarded

Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...

degree in physics from

Creighton University Creighton University is a private Jesuit research university in Omaha, Nebraska. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1878, the university is accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. In 2015 the university enrolled 8,393 graduate and undergra ...

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest c ...

Air Force career

Upon Anderson's graduation from the University of Washington, he was commissioned a

second lieutenant Second lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer military rank in many armed forces, comparable to NATO OF-1 rank. Australia The rank of second lieutenant existed in the military forces of the Australian colonies and Australian Army unt ...

in the

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...

. After completing a year of technical training at

Keesler Air Force Base Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city along the Gulf Coast in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler Jr., a Mississippi nat ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, he was assigned to

Randolph Air Force Base Randolph Air Force Base was an United States Air Force base located at Universal City, Texas ( east-northeast of Downtown San Antonio). Opened in 1931, Randolph has been a flying training facility for the United States Army Air Corps, the Un ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. At Randolph he served as chief of communication maintenance for the 2015th Communication Squadron and later as director of information system maintenance for the 1920th Information System Group. In 1986, he was selected to attend

Undergraduate Pilot Training Air Education and Training Command (AETC) is one of the nine Major Commands (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force (USAF), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force. It was established 1 July 1993, with the realignment of Air Training ...

at Vance Air Force Base,

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

. Upon graduation he was assigned to the

2d Airborne Command and Control Squadron D, or d, is the fourth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''dee'' (pronounced ), plural ''dees''. History The ...

Offutt Air Force Base Offutt Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force base south of Omaha, adjacent to Bellevue in Sarpy County, Nebraska. It is the headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM), the 557th Weather Wing, and the 55th Wing (55 WG) of the Ai ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the sout ...

as an EC-135 pilot, flying the

Strategic Air Command Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile ...

's airborne command post code-named " Looking Glass." He completed his master's degree while stationed at Offutt. From January 1991 to September 1992, he served as an aircraft commander and instructor pilot in the

920th Air Refueling Squadron The 920th Air Refueling Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 379th Bombardment Wing at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan where it was inactivated on 30 September 1992. The first predecessor of the s ...

, Wurtsmith Air Force Base,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

. From September 1992 to February 1995 he was assigned as an instructor pilot and tactics officer in the 380th Air Refueling Wing,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Anderson had logged more than 3,000 hours of flight time when NASA selected him for astronaut training in December 1994. He was one of 19 candidates selected from a pool of 2,962 applicants.

Special honors

*Distinguished graduate, USAF Communication Electronics Officers course *The Armed Forces Communication Electronics Associations Academic Excellence Award *Undergraduate Pilot Training Academic Achievement Award for Class 87-08 Vance AFB

NASA

Anderson reported to the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late ...

in March 1995. He completed a year of training and evaluation, and was qualified for flight crew assignment as a mission specialist. Anderson was initially assigned technical duties in the Flight Support Branch of the

Astronaut Office The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...

, but went on to log more than 593 hours in space aboard two Space Shuttle missions.

Space Shuttle missions

''Endeavour''

STS-89 STS-89 was a Space Shuttle mission to the '' Mir'' space station flown by Space Shuttle '' Endeavour'', and launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 22 January 1998. Crew Crew notes STS-89 was originally scheduled to return Wendy B. La ...

'' Endeavour'' (January 22–31, 1998). Anderson was a mission specialist on STS-89, the eighth Shuttle-to-

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to&n ...

Space Station A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a human crew in orbit for an extended period of time, and is therefore a type of space habitat. It lacks major propulsion or landing systems. An orbital station or an orbital space station ...

docking mission, during which the crew delivered more than 9,000 pounds of scientific equipment, logistical hardware, and water. In the fifth and last exchange of a U.S. astronaut, STS-89 delivered

Andy Thomas Andrew "Andy" Sydney Withiel Thomas, AO (born 18 December 1951) is an Australian and American aerospace engineer and a former NASA astronaut. He has dual nationality; he became a U.S. citizen in December 1986, hoping to gain entry to NASA's a ...

to Mir and returned with David Wolf. The mission's duration was 8 days, 19 hours, and 47 seconds, traveling 3.6 million miles in 138

orbits In celestial mechanics, an orbit is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an object or position in space such as a p ...

of the

Earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to harbor life. While large volumes of water can be found throughout the Solar System, only Earth sustains liquid surface water. About 71% of Earth's sur ...

''Columbia''

STS-107 STS-107 was the 113th flight of the Space Shuttle program, and the 28th and final flight of Space Shuttle ''Columbia''. The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 16, 2003, and during its 15 days, 22 hours, 20 minutes ...

Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' (January 16-February 1, 2003). Anderson served as payload commander and lieutenant colonel in charge of science experiments on the ''Columbia'', NASA's oldest shuttle. On February 1, 2003, the shuttle was returning to Earth after a successful 16-day trip to orbit, where the crew had conducted more than 80 scientific experiments. Unbeknownst to her crew, the orbiter had suffered critical damage during its launch on January 16, when foam from the fuel tank's insulation fell off and tore a hole in ''Columbia's'' left wing. During re-entry, the hole allowed super-hot

atmospheric gases The atmosphere of Earth is the layer of gases, known collectively as air, retained by Earth's gravity that surrounds the planet and forms its planetary atmosphere. The atmosphere of Earth protects life on Earth by creating pressure allowing for ...

to penetrate the orbiter's wing, leading to its destruction. The mission's duration was 15 days, 22 hours, and 20 minutes. The ''Columbia'' Accident Investigation Board reported that, in addition to the ''Columbia''s physical damage, NASA's management culture was partly responsible for the disaster.

Quotes

Prior to the final launch of the ''Columbia'', Anderson told reporters: "There's always that unknown."

Personal life

Anderson was survived by his wife, Sandra Hawkins, and two daughters, Kaycee and Sydney. He was also survived by his parents and three sisters. Anderson and his family lived in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

at the time of his death, where they attended

Grace Community Church Grace Community Church is a non-denominational, evangelical megachurch founded in 1956 and located in Sun Valley, a neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles. Noted speaker and radio evangelist John MacArthur is the senior pa ...

. Anderson sang tenor in the church's choir.

Awards

Legacy and tributes

* State Route 904, running through

, where he graduated from high school, was renamed in his memory. *The science and math wing of Cheney High School is dedicated to his memory. *

Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet of the inner Solar System. Sizes and shapes of asteroids vary significantly, ranging from 1-meter rocks to a dwarf planet almost 1000 km in diameter; they are rocky, metallic or icy bodies with no atmosphere. ...

51824 Mikeanderson was posthumously named after Anderson. * Anderson Hall, in the Columbia Village apartments at the

Florida Institute of Technology The Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. App ...

is named after him. * Anderson Plaza, the green space in front of the Hixson-Lied Science Center at

was named after him in a compromise between the student body, who wanted the Science Center named for Anderson, and the administration who had already sold the naming rights to the Hixson-Lied family. * Blair Elementary School on

in Washington was renamed Michael Anderson Elementary School in January 2004. Anderson attended the school as a fifth-grader. * Avondale Elementary School in

Avondale, Arizona Avondale is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 89,334, up from 76,238 in 2010 and 35,883 in 2000. Avondale, incorporated in 1946, has experienced rap ...

was renamed Michael Anderson Elementary in his honor. He attended school there when he was in 3rd grade, and one of the school T-shirts was aboard the ''Columbia'' on its last voyage. * In 2003 he was inducted into the International Forest of Friendship, in Atchison, KS as part of a memorial to the ''Columbia'' astronauts. * Anderson Park in

Canton, Mississippi Canton is a city in Madison County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 13,189 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Madison County, and situated in the northern part of the metropolitan area surrounding the state capital, Ja ...

was dedicated in June 2004. * An outdoor bronze statue of Anderson was unveiled in

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

in June 2005. Larger-than-life, it was created by local artist Dorothy Fowler, and shows Anderson kneeling with his helmet in one hand and a dove in the other. * A duplicate statue was dedicated at the

Museum of Flight The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of King County International Airport (Boeing Field) in the city of Tukwila, immediately south of Seattle. ...

in June 2009 and the museum launched an aerospace program in his honor. * An outdoor mural in the city of Plattsburgh was unveiled in October 2020 honoring Michael P. Anderson. On July 4, 2021, the city of Plattsburgh held a dedication for the mural, where the Anderson family was given a key to the city and lead the annual Independence day parade. * Lunar crater M. Anderson is named after him. * The Creighton University Physics Department, from which he received his master's degree, maintains a statue and physics scholarship in his honor.

References

External links

*
Michael Anderson STS-107 Crew Memorial

* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20030424225251/http://www.iit.edu/~iitnsf/depastro.html The Chicago Alliance for Minority Participation Keynote Address by Major Michael P. Andersonbr>Museum of Flight: Michael P. Anderson Memorial Aerospace ProgramHistoryLink.org: Michael P. Anderson
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Michael P. 1959 births 2003 deaths Space Shuttle Columbia disaster Aviators from New York (state) People from Plattsburgh, New York People from Cheney, Washington University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences alumni Creighton University alumni United States Air Force officers 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people African-American Christians Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Accidental deaths in Texas Recipients of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal Burials at Arlington National Cemetery People from Spokane, Washington Space Shuttle program astronauts Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Mir crew members United States Air Force astronauts