- Mike Payne: First, it's common for children to dream of such careers as firefighter, president, athlete or astronaut. It's likely that no young child dreams of growing up to be an accountant. At what age did the dream of life as an astronaut strike you?
- Clayton C Anderson: My mom and I argue this one a bit. She says 4-5 when she dressed me in aluminum foil and a hat box to be one of the Mercury Astronauts in my home town's annual Kiddie Parade. I got second place and she says I was robbed. My recollection was when I was 8 years old and my parents got my sister and brother and me out of bed to watch the Apollo 8 astronauts fly around the moon for the first time in history. When they lost command, I was enthralled and scared…when they got it back as they emerged from the far side I was ecstatic; and decided then and there that I would become an astronaut.
- Mike: Now that you’ve achieved that storied job title, is life as an Astronaut what you expected as a child?
- Clayton: Yes and no. Of course it is a thrill to be an astronaut and the opportunity to fly in space and represent my State of Nebraska and my Country was more than I could have ever dreamed of. However, there is a tremendous amount of stress (self-induced and otherwise!) that accompanies the job. That stress has been difficult for me and my family to overcome at times. The travel to other countries, the long training hours and, of course, the 5 months spent in space were difficult at times. Yet we survived and we believe are stronger as a family because of it.
- Mike: At times, do you wish you were “just an accountant”?
- Clayton: Nope…never. I have wished for a break and a nice relaxing vacation at times, but having this job has been a thrill.
- Mike: Briefly, what is a normal work week like for an Astronaut?
- Clayton: My training weeks were often varied, yet often the same. They were between 50-60 hours at times comprised of meetings, training classes…perhaps a dive in the Neutral Buoyancy Lab (NBL) or a 6 hour NBL session to practice for an upcoming spacewalk. We may have a flight in a T-38 jet to attend a training class or meeting in another state. Perhaps there will be some medical tests or training that we must undertake. Undoubtedly there will be a simulation of some type during any given week once you are training for spaceflight.
- Mike: Aside from the work you’ve done in space, what is your favorite part about the job?
- Clayton: My favorite part has to be talking to the public. I think it is truly important that we as astronauts go on the road to let people know why what we do is important and how it benefits all of us on the Planet Earth.
- Mike: On June 8th, 2007, you launched aboard the Shuttle Atlantis to dock with the International Space Station for a 152 day tour of duty. What was it like seeing that shuttle depart back to Earth without you?
- Clayton: It was tough indeed. At that point I was staring 5 (or more) months in space straight in the eyes. At that point I wasn't sure what to expect or whether I could do it or not. It was a very surreal time for me. In addition, I was facing a long time away from my wife and children. That was the hardest part of the whole endeavour.
- Mike: Your teammates aboard the ISS were Russian Cosmonauts Fyodor Yurchikhin and Oleg Kotov. How did the cultural differences between you and your “new roommates” impact your experience aboard the ISS?
- Clayton: They are two of the most intelligent, gentle and friendly men that I will ever have the pleasure to be associated with. In addition, they are family men, just like me. That was a key for us on orbit as that commonality of family really brought us together. We were the Three Musketeers in space and I said many times that I had found my space brothers on Expedition 15. To me, there were minimal cultural differences that ever manifested themselves onboard. In fact, some of our mealtime discussions were such that we were able to learn about each other's cultures in a relaxed and informative environment.
- Oleg loved to listen to music. Oleg and Fyodor both loved to shoot pictures of the Earth and then sort through them and organize them. I enjoyed that as well, but with an electronic keyboard and guitar on board, I tried to write some piano music and teach myself how to play that guitar. I had minimal success at both, since there wasn’t much free time. We all enjoyed calling friends and family using the International Space Station’s Internet Protocol (IP) phone. On Fridays, we often gathered in the Russian Segment to watch a movie together.
- Mike: During your tour of duty on the ISS, what level of connection did you have to the world below– your family, the news, entertainment and sports?
- Clayton: It was actually quite good. We had the IP phone, which is a huge psychological benefit as well as the ability to send and receive email (usually two to three times per day… very similar to what you would expect on Earth). Each weekend we were able to have a video conference with our family or friends that would last between 15 and 35 minutes. As for news, entertainment and sports… that was covered as well. Some of our favorite newspapers and periodicals were uplinked to us for reading as well as our favorite TV shows (Get Smart, Hogan's Heroes, Seinfeld, NBC Nightly News, etc.) and movies. One of my most cherished times came when the ground would let me watch the Nebraska Cornhusker and Houston Texan football games (live) through our KU Band Satellite system. I felt like I was home in my recliner watching my favorite teams. Awesome.
- Mike: You handled some heavy-duty operations aboard ISS– in your work on upgrading and repairing the ISS, what was the margin of error in your work? What amount of training for these procedures did you complete on the ground?
- Clayton: The ground training team prepares us very well for most of the major tasks we are expected to perform on orbit. However, with schedules being a bit flexible at times, they can't cover everything. So, we often learn skills that will carry us through many different types of tasks, some which we may have never seen or practiced on the ground. This skill based training is critical to life onboard the ISS. The margin of error is not large, but it's not small either. With the help of the team in the control centers in Houston, Huntsville (AL) and Moscow (along with the newly added ESA and JAXA control centers), we can usually cover and overcome any deficiencies in the training, procedures and task that come up. I trained for some 3.5 years before flying and many of the tasks I trained for were covered by previous crews while many we didn't get to because other higher priority tasks appeared. Much of our time is spent in maintenance of the onboard systems as well as the adding of new capabilities.
- Mike: Do you expect more space flights in your career?
- Clayton: I hope so. My wife and I have agreed that we could immediately accept a space shuttle assignment. These are typically 2 week missions, with about 9 months of training, the majority of which is done in the U. S.. So, Daddy (Hubby) could be home with the family for the majority of the time, thus minimizing the family disruption. Another ISS flight, which for me would mean a launch and landing in Russia (the Shuttle is to be retired in 2010, and an ISS assignment for me would be after that), is something that my entire family would have to discuss. With the ages of my kids (11 and 7) and the impact it would have on all of us, it requires some very serious family planning.
- Originally posted at http: //www.gearcrave.com/2008-05-01/gearcrave-dream-job-interview-astronaut-clayton-c-anderson/
You Talk to Me
Interviews and conversations that speak to us.
Mike Payne talks to astronaut Clayton C. Anderson about working in space
