Speakers

CLAYTON C. ANDERSON

I am a retired United States Astronaut (2013) having served my country as an employee of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) for thirty years.  First as an Aerospace Engineer, then a Supervisor/Manager, and finally, as an Astronaut. I have worked predominantly in the areas of (Space Shuttle and Station) mission design and operations, flight crew training, and physical plant/center emergency response (environmental, medical, fire and rescue, security) operations.  Key understandings exist for the “plan, train, execute” mentality, and the operational aspects of procedure and simulation development, execution of emergency/safety operations, process planning, and budget development and execution.  My experiences create solid expectations of an innate ability to function as a member of high-performance teams; in roles ranging from those of active leadership and followership to “devil’s advocate,” allowing me to contribute to many different facets of highly technical and complex endeavors.

My empowering leadership and personable style along with a keen ability to see and communicate a “big picture/process overview” type vision enable me to build and maintain strong partnerships and bring groups together enabling collaboration resulting in “win-win” scenarios.  My core professional expertise focuses on the areas of trajectory design and analysis; operational systems procedure development; simulation development and training (including graphical user interface (GUI) evaluation); robotics; extra-vehicular activity (spacewalks), both long- and short-duration space flight operations, and emergency management.

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My experience at NASA has allowed me to work in, and with, many organizations and companies of varying sizes and responsibilities.  Building relationships between various aerospace companies and NASA-specific organizations has been a strength of mine for over thirty years.  For example, capitalizing on this skill set, I led negotiations and fundraising efforts (2017) to bring my flown-in-space Russian Sokol (Falcon) spacesuit to the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in my hometown of Ashland, NE.  Since that time, we also secured my water survival (Forel) and winter survival suits for display.

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Expert Astronaut Advisor, International Preparedness Associates, Inc. (January 2026- Present)
Advise on various programs related to Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) environment training for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO), Lunar- and Martian-based settlements; and user-based Military, Undersea, Scientific, and Spaceflight communities.

Nebraska State Advocate for STEM Innovation; (February 10, 2026-Present)
Serve as Nebraska’s advocate for all things STEM-related, including through State and local governments as well as school districts across the State.

President and CEO Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum (May 2022 - June 2025)
Employed in this full-time position May 2022- June 2025, as the President/CEO, it was a rewarding challenge requiring the stabilization of a venue with numerous issues.

We established new Vision and Mission statements, an Employee Handbook, upgraded and added numerous (new) exhibits, cleaned up some very serious financial situations, and partnered with numerous organizations key to the Omaha/Lincoln Metro area (universities, governments, community colleges, aerospace contractors, etc.).  A key set of metrics were also developed to help the museum “measure” their performance in critical areas.

Iowa State University, Professor of Practice
 

Senior Lecturer                                                                                      2013-Present

I am currently employed part-time as a Professor of Practice and Senior Lecturer for the ISU Aerospace Engineering Department team-teaching a freshman class, “Introduction to Aerospace Engineering.”  I also serve as a mentor for undergraduate and graduate students at ISU, and the various projects of their undertaking. 

In 2013, I devised a summer course (the Spaceflight Operations WorkshopTM (SOW)) with the intent of bringing it to fruition as key part of an aerospace engineering undergraduate minor or certificate.  Executed over 10 years, the workshop focused on more fully developing engineering and education students by enhancing their thought processes and understanding what it takes to “…think more operationally.”  Using SCUBA certification, skydiving, virtual reality, flight simulators, survival training, operational procedure development, and pertinent lecture content, we hoped to push them toward a more astronaut-like –and highly operational-- type of “plan, train, execute” thinking.  This mindset sets ISU students apart when competing for employment opportunities in the ever-expanding world of commercial spaceflight and related industries.  The program was discontinued in 2023 due to COVID and funding issues.

Currently, I also co-lead efforts to convert an unused acoustic water tank into a neutral buoyancy facility we call the ISU BuoyanCY Lab.  With the goal of a fully operational facility, much progress has been made through the efforts of former professor and ISS Flight Director, Tomas Gonzalez-Torres. It is my hope that one day ISU engineering students will perform tandem SCUBA runs as a unique and additional pillar of the workshop described above.  We would endeavor to partner with NASA in using the facility for spacewalk tool designs and evaluations, along with drone and robotic studies.  For now, it serves as a wonderful project-based facility, where students can perform Senior Projects of various regimes.

Relevant Publications:

Finseth, T. T., Keren, N., Dorneich, M. C., Franke, W. D., Anderson, C. C., & Shelley, M. C. (2018). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Graduated Stress Exposure in Virtual Spaceflight Hazard Training. Journal of Cognitive Engineering and Decision Making, 12(4), 248-268.

Finseth, T. T., Keren, N., Franke, W., Dorneich, M., & Anderson, C. C. (2016). Graduated Stress Exposure of Spaceflight Hazards in a Virtual Environment. In AIAA SPACE 2016 (p. 5614).

Finseth, T. T., & Anderson, C. C. (2016). Re-Engineering Student Thought Processes Using Spaceflight Operations. In AIAA SPACE 2016 (p. 5612).

Author and Motivational Speaker (2013-Present)
Since retiring from NASA in 2013, I have given numerous speeches to people around the United States and internationally.  Focusing on topics of leadership, education, STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math), perseverance, and teamwork, I bring entertaining and informative presentations to every conceivable venue.  Clients have included distinguished organizations such as the Distribution Contractors Association (DCA), Boeing, the University of Nebraska Omaha/Lincoln/Medical Center, Iowa State University, the University of Texas, the Fiesta Bowl, Honeywell, BP America, the Idaho Potato Commission, Raytheon, Wyle Space Sciences, the US Naval War College, Valmont Industries, Farm Bureau Lincoln, DuPont, the Smithsonian, Rotary International, the Big 12 Conference, the U.S. Embassy/Athens, Greece, Thrivent Financial, Anheuser-Busch, Royal Caribbean International, and Hastings College.

I am now the author of five books.  The first --award-winning and published in 2015 by the University of Nebraska Press—is entitled The Ordinary SpacemanTM: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut. It has sold over 13,500 copies and is also available in Mandarin Chinese.  May 2018 saw the release of my first children’s book; A is for Astronaut: Blasting Through the Alphabet.  Published by Sleeping Bear Press (Ann Arbor, MI), it is also an award-winning title, selling over 22,000 copies.  I teamed up with the University of Nebraska Press a second time in June 2018 to publish the teen/young adult focused; It’s a Question of Space: An Ordinary Astronaut’s Answers to Sometimes Extraordinary Questions.  Rated the number one new release on Amazon.com for teenagers and young adults in air and space for over four weeks, it is approaching 5000 copies sold.  2020 featured the debut of my second children’s book Letters from Space, my second publication with Sleeping Bear Press and featured as a Literati Book Club offering (26,000 copies sold).  My most recent, and third, children’s book with Sleeping Bear Press, So, You Want To Be An Astronaut, made its debut in August of 2023 and 5000 copies sold.

NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC) Flight Crew Operations Directorate/Astronaut Office                                
Astronaut                                                                            June 1998- January 2013
An astronaut (selection in August 1998), my position as a Mission Specialist afforded me both management and technical opportunities.  As a flown astronaut, I served as the Astronaut Office Deputy Branch Chief for the International Space Station (ISS) Integration Branch, supervising both fellow-astronauts and technical engineering support staff while acting as a mentor and instructor astronaut for newer astronauts beginning their spacewalk training. 

I am a veteran of two space flights, having logged 167 days in space and 38 hours and 28 minutes of EVA in 6 spacewalks.  This includes a space shuttle Atlantis launch and delivery to the ISS, where I completed a 5-month stay aboard the ISS in 2007 (expeditions 15/16) and a return journey to the station with space shuttle Discovery and the STS-131 crew in 2010.  I served as the crew medical officer for both missions and as the US Science Officer for my 5-month station tour.  I speak Russian Language (formal rating of Intermediate High prior to my ISS flight assignment - my personal assessment of my abilities is “conversant”) and have certification as a SCUBA diver (Advanced Open Water and Rescue Diver).  My Ham Radio Operator license/call sign is KD5PLA.  

Prior to my spaceflight assignments, I was lead for the Enhanced Caution and Warning (ECW) System development effort within a larger project known as the space shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade (CAU).  We developed a new computer system for quick and specific identification of shuttle cockpit failures.  Other early assignments included Crew Support Astronaut (CSA) for ISS Expedition 4 - I provided ground support on technical issues in addition to supporting the crew families and was certified as an ISS Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) serving as the “voice” between the Mission Control team and the onboard station crew. After first joining the Astronaut Office in 1998, I performed the role of crew representative for the ISS electrical power system.  In this capacity I teamed with flight controllers to develop and validate laptop computer graphic data displays for ISS command and control while also executing (step-by-step) validations of procedures covering emergency situations (fire, toxic spill, station de-pressurization) to those associated with standard maintenance functions.  I was also a member of the technical team that created the first ISS Power Strip.

Numerous generic astronaut training opportunities were completed prior to being assigned to mission specific training including the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Skills program (spacewalking).  Once assigned to ISS flight specific training, I served as backup Flight Engineer for ISS Expeditions 12-14 before being named to the prime crew for the 15th expedition to the ISS. 

My pre-astronaut career included fifteen years as an aerospace engineer and manager, having joined the Johnson Space Center in 1983 in the Mission Planning and Analysis Division.  Our group of engineers performed computer simulations to develop rendezvous and proximity operations trajectory designs for early space shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) missions.  In 1988, a transfer opportunity took me to the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) as a Flight Design Manager (FDM), where I led the trajectory design team for the Galileo planetary mission (STS-34), and the Tethered Satellite System mission (STS-46) and served as the backup FDM for the Magellan planetary mission (STS-31) and Ulysses Solar Mission (STS-41).  In 1989 I was chosen to move into management, becoming the supervisor of the MOD Ascent Flight Design Section and following reorganization, the Flight Design Engineering Office of the Flight Design and Dynamics Division.  Continuing to perform at a high level in the management ranks, in 1993 I was selected to become the Chief of the Flight Design Branch, supervising approximately 30 civil servants and managing a contractor workforce of 250.  Management included technical oversight, budget development/execution, formal contactor evaluations and performance planning for my direct reports.  In 1996, Directorate leadership solicited me to move to the post of Manager, Emergency Operations Center, a position I held until my selection as an astronaut. 

NASA JSC Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) 
Manager, Emergency Operations Center                                          1996-1998
This newly created management position necessitated focus on redefining the center’s safety and emergency response culture through development of, and integration between, the organizations responsible for the planning, training and execution of Center-wide emergency preparation and response.  Central to the performance of these key duties was applying space shuttle mission control operational techniques (“plan, train, execute”) to center-wide preparedness strategies and execution tactics for hurricane, security/terrorist, environmental/toxic spill, and medical emergency incidents. 

Important safety successes and enhancements resulted in both the way the Center developed and then continually executed and evaluated a process for regularly scheduled integrated emergency (simulation) drills. These drills were designed to pinpoint process flaws and ultimately enhance organizational response capability by correcting deficiencies.  A major key to this integration process was my role as the Chairman of the JSC Emergency Response Team (ERT).  This team is responsible for the coordination of the center’s response leadership, and I was able to “push” them to new ways of looking for innovations in how we did business.  I also served as an official member of the JSC Hurricane Ride-out Team, ready to live on site before, during, and after the impacts of a hurricane on the gulf coast. 

Another important accomplishment of my tenure was the hugely successful relationship building and networking that occurred between separate hierarchical organizational entities at the space center that ultimately unified the JSC response to all emergencies through much improved teamwork and understanding of partnering organization responsibilities.  Prior to my stint as Manager, the participating organizations were clearly segregated entities: Security (terrorist threats), Fire, Medical and Environmental (toxic/hazardous spills, medical emergencies).  It was incumbent upon me to understand their individual roles so that we could integrate all aspects of safety.  This resulted in reduced ambiguity and a more cohesive entity, while promoting excellent opportunities for synergy, teamwork, and communication to better hone our response to real-time emergencies.

Finally, the role required management of a small contractor team and its associated budget used in the development of associated information technology/capability for our operational response call center and an alternative security identification system for JSC and my serving as the Center’s Emergency Operations liaison within the local surrounding communities.  This important “marketing” role led to the development of a signed “Community Partner Agreement” for shared use of emergency facilities at the Johnson Space Center. 

Flight Design and Dynamics Division
Chief, Flight Design Branch                                                                  1989 - 1996
As a Branch Chief within the Mission Operations Directorate, I had the responsibility to develop and execute performance planning/evaluation of 25 government employees.  In addition, I was the technical monitor of 250 contractors who performed daily design operations for the development and on-time delivery of space shuttle data products necessary for the conduct of space shuttle missions.  This role also necessitated that I led development of this group’s quarterly and annual Contractor Evaluation Ratings which led to the determination of contractual award fees for their technical performance.

Head, Flight Design Engineer Section                                                1986-1989

In my first supervisory role, our organization developed and executed the technical integration and oversight to specific trajectory components (ascent, entry, orbital operations) and (serially) deliverable products while looking for opportunities in innovation, schedule reduction and increased quality/reduced errors.  Included in this effort was the development and maintenance of an initial set of metrics, by which the processes and deliverables could be better assessed and evaluated.  These metrics led to an organization-wide development where, for the first time, NASA departments sought better ways to measure and quantify their performance.

Education
·      Master of Science, Aerospace Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, 1983

·      Bachelor of Science, Cum Laude, Physics, Hastings College (Nebraska), 1981

·      Ashland-Greenwood High School, Ashland, Nebraska, 1977

Additional Distinctions, Training, Certifications, and Awards
·      AIAA Children’s Literature Award, Letters from Space (2020), January 2023

·      Nebraska Book Award from the Nebraska Center for the Book (2019)

o   A is for Astronaut: Blasting Through the Alphabet

·      Nebraska Book Award from the Nebraska Center for the Book (2016)

o   The Ordinary SpacemanTM: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut

·      The Jason Awards, Children’s Square USA (2015)

·      Tom Osborne Leadership Award, Leadership Hastings (2012)

·      Spirit of Nebraska Award, Independent Insurance Agents of Nebraska (2009)

·      NASA Space Flight Medal (2008, 2011)

·      NASA Exceptional Service Medal (2008, 2011)

·      Russian Federation Medal for Merit in Space Exploration (2011)

·      Ak-Sar-Ben Court of Honor, Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation (2011)

·      Charles Bessey Medal, University of Nebraska (2010)

·      Pioneer Award, Nebraskaland Foundation, Inc. (2008)

·      Outstanding Alumnus, Iowa State University (2008)

·      Outstanding Alumnus, Hastings College (Nebraska) (2008)

·      Hastings College (Nebraska) Pro Rege Society (2008)

·      Honorary doctorate degree from Hastings College (2004)

·      Distinguished Alumnus Award, National Council of Alpha Chi (2001)

·      NASA Quality and Safety Achievement Recognition (QASAR) Award (1998)

·      JSC Certificate of Commendation (1993)

·      Outstanding Young Man of America (1981, 1985, 1987)

Affiliations/Organizations
·       Lifetime member, Association of Space Explorers (ASE) 

·       Member, Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum Board of Directors (2019-2022)

·       Ex-Officio Member, Hastings College (Nebraska) Board of Trustees 

·       Johnson Space Center Employee Activities Association:  vice president of Athletics (1987 to 1992)

·       Clear Lake Optimist Club, past president and vice president

·       Alpha Chi National Scholastic Honor Society, Hastings College, Hastings Nebraska (1980 to 1981)

·       Former High School basketball official, Texas Association of Sports Officials

·       Former men’s college basketball official:  Red River Athletic, Southern Collegiate Athletic, Heart of Texas, Lone Star and Texas/New Mexico Junior College Athletic Conferences

References/Recommendations (Furnished on Request)
**Please contact me at astroclayllc@gmail.com