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The Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut PDF

399 Pages·2015·21.166 MB·English
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ORDINARY SPACEMAN THE ORDINARY THE SPACEMAN From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut Clay ton C. Anderson Foreword by NEVADA BARR University of Nebraska Press Lincoln & London © 2015 by Clayton C. Anderson. Foreword © 2015 by the Board of Regents of the University of Nebraska All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data Anderson, Clayton C., 1959– The ordinary spaceman: from boyhood dreams to astronaut / Clayton C. Anderson; foreword by Nevada Barr. pages cm isbn 978- 0- 8032- 6282- 9 (cloth: alk. paper) isbn 978- 0- 8032- 7731- 1 (ePub) isbn 978- 0- 8032- 7732- 8 (mobi) isbn 978- 0- 8032- 7733- 5 (pdf). 1. Anderson, Clayton C., 1959– . 2. Astronauts— United States— Biography. 3. United States— National Aeronautics and Space Administration— Biography. 4. International Space Station. 5. Extravehicular activity (Manned space flight). I. Title. tl789.85.a53a3 2015 629.450092— dc23 [B] 2014048858 Set in Minion Pro by Lindsey Auten. To Dex, a true and honest leader of men and women, whose time both on and off this Earth was far too short. To all my crewmates: C.J., Bru, Swany, Pat, Danny, and J.R. of sts- 117 Fyodor, Oleg, and Suni of Expedition 15 Scott, Scorch, Rick, Davyd, T.C., Babs, and B. Alvin of sts- 118 Yuri, Peggy, and Sheikh of Expedition 16 Pambo, Zambo, Flambo, Longbow, Robo, Rocky, and Bo- ichi of sts- 120 Dex, Mash, Rick, Dottie (Cheese!), Naoko, and Stephanie of sts- 131 You have shared your lives on terra firma and in outer space with me, and I am forever grateful to you for allowing me that wonderful opportunity. To my Group 17 “Penguin” classmates of 1998: while I may not have flown with all of you, I was always hon- ored to be one of you. For my mother and father and my brother and sister, who taught me that giving up is never an option . . . . . . and for my wife, son, and daughter, who taught me why. CONTENTS Foreword by Nevada Barr ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction xiii 1. First Flight 1 2. Beginnings 17 3. Freshman Fifteen 35 4. Hey, There’s an App for That! 47 5. Answer the Phone, Will Ya? 63 6. Baby Astronauts 81 7. Hail Columbia! 89 8. Age of Aquarius 113 9. From Russia with Love 131 10. Survival of the Fittest 159 11. Sign of the Times 181 12. Sixty- Two and Counting 193 13. Dark Days of Summer 205 14. Crime and Punishment 217 15. The “Void” of Outer Space 235 16. The Doctor Is In 243 17. The Hard Thump of Reality 259 18. The Serendipity of Chance 277 19. Walking Tall 289 20. Fame and Fortune 299 21. Find Us Faithful 311 22. Impacts 331 23. The End Becomes the Beginning 343 FOREWORD Nevada Barr I have known Clay Anderson for many years. We met at a National Education Association conference shortly after his daughter was born. He sang at my wedding and called me from outer space so I could yell “Love you!” into the black reaches of the universe. Since meeting Clay, I have met several presidents and first ladies and a handful of celebrities, but he remains the only astronaut I know. They are rare, these individuals who orbit around our world, and Clay is everything one could want in a hero: tall, well built, well married, honest, forthright, and, ironically for an astro- naut, down- to- earth. In reading Clay’s The Ordinary Spaceman you get no sense of separation between the reader and the event; it is as if your best friend is taking you with him under the sea, to Russia, freezing and floating and trying to find a way to eat and pee without grav- ity. The trip is personal and fun. Reading this book is the next best thing to becoming an astronaut yourself. Maybe the best thing, since you can share all the wild adventures Clay had with- out ever having to spend hours curled up like a fetus getting fit- ted for a space suit or slogging through a Russian winter to prove you have the Right Stuff. Prepare to launch.

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