Go4Liftoff - Michael P. Anderson

Michael P. Anderson

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Nationality American

Date Of Birth 1959-12-28

Deceased 2003-02-01

Status Lost In Flight

Type Government

Agency

Astronaut Biography

Michael Phillip Anderson was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut. Anderson and his six fellow crew members were killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the craft disintegrated during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. Anderson served as the payload commander and lieutenant colonel in charge of science experiments on the Columbia. Anderson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.