Celebrating Michael P. Anderson and Black Aviation History
“When you launch in a rocket, you’re not really flying that rocket. You’re just sort of hanging on.” - Michael P. Anderson
An astronaut, a Lieutenant Colonel, a father and a husband, Michael P. Anderson was born in Plattsburgh, New York, but considered Spokane his home. He passed away in 2003 over the southern U.S. as Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry, minutes before it was scheduled to land. When Anderson first went to space on the Endeavour in 1998, he joined a distinguished list of African-American astronauts, and after the Columbia disaster, he was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Anderson graduated high school in Cheney, Washington, then attended the University of Washington where he studied physics and astronomy and joined the ROTC. Physics Professor Mark McDermott told Columns, “He did stand out partly because there are not many African-American students getting undergraduate degrees in physics. To learn that he became an astronaut was a tribute to his determination.”
After graduation, Anderson quickly worked his way up in the Air Force. He was selected by NASA to join their space program in 1994, then completed a year of training in preparation for space. His first trip to space included nine days in orbit, carrying supplies and crew to space station Mir. On his final mission, he and his crewmates carried out more than 80 separate science experiments. Prior to the final launch of the Columbia, Anderson stated, “There’s always that unknown.”
As his mother told the Spokane Spokesman-Review in 2018, “Even though he had just turned 43, he had had a full life. He did wonders in that length of time. Sometimes it isn’t the length that you live, it’s the quality.”
At the Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing, every month is Black History Month. We will continue to learn, and we will continue to share what we learn.
