Clayton Anderson is busy these days with final training and preparations for his return to space next month.
Near the top of his “to do” list — deciding what items he will carry with him into space.
The trinkets will have a Nebraska flavor.
The Ashland, Neb., native is taking a baseball that will be used for the ceremonial first pitch at a College World Series game in June. A couple of drawings specially created for the mission by World-Herald cartoonist Jeff Koterba will be packed. And Anderson wants to take something for Curt Tomasevicz, the Shelby, Neb., native who recently won a gold medal in bobsledding at the Winter Olympics.
Anderson sees similarities in Tomasevicz’s story and his.
“It sends a message to the children and people of Nebraska that no matter where you’re from or what you do, we turn out some pretty darn good people,” he said.
This second trip, scheduled for launch April 5, is different for the only Nebraska-born astronaut.
In 2007, Anderson was shifted from another mission crew at the last minute and did not participate in many of the pre-launch activities before Atlantis propelled him to the International Space Station, where he worked and lived for five months.
This time he is more involved with the shuttle crew. On the previous trip the shuttle was basically a taxi ride to and from the space station. Now he’s a vital member of the shuttle crew.
“I’m not just a sack of potatoes this time on the shuttle,” he said, laughing. “For 13 or 14 days I have to hold up my end.”
As he prepares for the launch, Anderson has reflected on the differences between this mission and his first one in 2007, when he lived on the space station for five months, conducting experiments and performing tasks with two Russian crew members.
“A shuttle mission is like a sprint,” he said. “The International Space Station is more like a marathon, steady and methodical.”
This time, Anderson is taking in the events and savoring every minute.
Anderson took his first ride aboard Discovery earlier this month, but the shuttle was going much slower than it will be when it is rocketed into space.
At a rate of one mile per hour, the massive vehicle, attached to the rocket, moved steadily on the crawler-transporter through the cool Florida night toward launch pad 39A.
“It was pretty amazing,” he said. “It was very impressive at night all lit up.”
During the late night ride, Anderson and his fellow crew members visited with the people who were in charge of preparations for the shuttle.
Two days later, Anderson was strapped into his seat on Discovery and took part in the full launch rehearsal. It brought back the familiar feeling he had during his first launch in 2007.
“It felt good to strap in and be in the suit and to feel the straps pulling on you,” he said.
After the rehearsal, the crew headed back to Houston for more training in preparation for the mission, one of the final shuttle missions to be launched by NASA.
Anderson and the crew will transport spare parts and cargo to the International Space Station, including a multipurpose logistics module.
During the planned 13 days in space, Anderson has three space walks, a repeat of work he did while on the space station in three years ago.
He and a fellow astronaut will replace an ammonia tank on the space station’s exterior.
“That’s the big ticket item,” Anderson said.
The Discovery crew will also deliver cargo such as clothing, food and supplies and science experiments to the space station that will help the station sustain itself after the shuttle program ends next year.
Anderson will install new racks in the space station, a job that, like the space walks, will also involve some choreography due to the lack of gravity in space.
“I’m going to do a dance with these arms and tanks on the outside and do a dance with the racks on the inside,” he said.
Training for this mission has been easier than the first time around, Anderson said. In preparation for the 2007 mission, Anderson spent months in Russia and other far-flung places to prepare for the five-month stay at the space station.
This time, most of the training has been at Johnson Space Center in Houston, near his home.
“I’m home most every night and home on weekends,” he said.
Perhaps because the training has been easier, Anderson said he has to sometimes step back and remember what’s involved in flying to space.
“I feel very comfortable, but I have to be careful not to be too comfortable,” he said.
Friends and others have been able to keep track of Anderson’s activities through his journals on the NASA Web site and a Twitter account, @Astro_Clay.
“I want the whole state of Nebraska to join me,” he said.
Anderson also looks forward to reuniting with his former Expedition 15 crew member, Oleg Kotov. He has brushed up on his Russian in preparation.
“There will be enough there to converse with him,” he said.
This time around, the time Anderson will spend away from his family will be much shorter than his first mission. And having one flight under their belt, he said, the preparations being made by his wife, Susan, are going smoothly.
“It’s a lot easier when you’ve done it once,” he said.
Someone will be missing from the launch this time, though. His mother, Alice Anderson, died a month after his return to earth in November 2007.
“It won’t be the same,” Anderson said. “But I’m sure I’ll think of her.”
He will also be thinking of his father, Jack Anderson, who died in 1984.
“The cool thing this time is they’ll be watching together and with a pretty good vantage point.”
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
