MICHAEL PHILLIP ANDERSONLieutenant Colonel Michael Anderson was payload commander and one of seven astronauts who died when Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated in the sky above Texas during re-entry on 1 February, 2003.Born Michael Phillip Anderson on Christmas Day, 1959, in the city of Plattsburgh, New York, his family moved to Spokane in Washington when he was young. His father was in the air force and Michael wanted to be a pilot from an early age. When he was 10, the moon landings inspired him to set his sights even higher.He studied physics and astronomy at the University of Washington and joined the air force after graduating, receiving a commission as a second lieutenant. He then served as chief of communication maintenance at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.In 1986, he began training towards his wings at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. He studied for a Masters degree in Nebraska while serving with the Airborne Command and Control Squadron, before becoming an instructor pilot in the early 1990s.He began training to be an astronaut at Johnson Space Center, Houston, in 1995 and first went into space in 1998 on board the Space Shuttle Endeavour as it flew to the Russian orbital station Mir.His role on the ill-fated STS-107 mission was that of payload commander in charge of the equipment needed for the 80 experiments into microgravity the crew carried out during their 16 days in space.Kent Rominger, chief of the Astronaut Office, said that Lt Col Anderson was the “perfect choice” for the job and that he was “organized, thorough, someone you could absolutely count on, a gifted leader”.He had many hobbies, including photography, chess, computers and tennis. He was also a strong believer in the Christian faith. He was survived by his wife and children and honoured posthumously with a NASA Distinguished Service medal and a Purple Heart medal from the US Air Force. Several educational buildings were named after him in recognition of the talks he used to give to children.The mission which claimed his life had already been beset by various problems, with the launch being delayed for more than two years. The disaster occurred after a small foam insulation panel broke loose during take-off on 16 January. The debris struck the left wing, damaging the shuttle’s thermal protection system.Although engineers suspected that Columbia had been damaged, NASA managers decided that, even if this was the case, there was nothing that could be done about it and did not order an investigation. They attempted to bring the shuttle back to earth as planned, but hot gases in the atmosphere penetrated the craft’s structure and caused it to break up, scattering fragments across the Texas countryside from an altitude of 38 miles.After the disaster, an investigation was heavily critical of NASA flight managers for not observing safety protocol and the Space Shuttle programme was set back over two years. President George W Bush said the death of the crew had “brought terrible news and great sadness to our country”.
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