HOUSTON – Home for the holidays has a whole new meaning when home is the planet you returned to just last week. But that is what astronaut Clay Anderson has done, landing Nov. 7 after five months in orbit aboard the International Space Station, just in time for a holiday season with his family.
“Seeing my family after several months aboard the station has taught me a new meaning of the word ‘thanksgiving,’” Anderson said. “We had a tremendously successful expedition during my time aboard the station, and it is really heartwarming to be able to complete my mission, come back to Earth with a great crew and relax and enjoy the season with loved ones.”
Anderson is available for interviews about his experience. To schedule an interview, contact Gayle Frere at gayle.frere-1@nasa.gov or 281-483-5111.
Anderson served as part of the Expedition 15 crew aboard the station after launching on mission STS-117 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis on June 8, 2007. While aboard the station, Anderson conducted several spacewalks and helped relocate the shuttle’s docking port using the station’s robotic arm. His work has helped the station begin the first expansion of its living and working space in more than six years.
Anderson returned to Earth aboard the shuttle Discovery, which completed a challenging solar array repair and attached the Harmony connecting module to the complex. The additional power from the arrays and the new Harmony’s berthing ports will allow international science labs from Europe and Japan to be launched during the next few months.
Anderson joined NASA’s Johnson Space Center in 1983 in the mission planning and analysis division where he performed rendezvous and proximity operations trajectory designs for shuttle missions. In 1998, he was selected as an astronaut. For Anderson’s full biography, including a profile, interview and personal logs he compiled while aboard the station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html
