Clayton Anderson

Clayton Anderson is a retired NASA astronaut, aerospace educator, author, and speaker with extensive experience in human spaceflight and mission operations. He currently serves as Expert Astronaut Advisor at International Preparedness Associates, Inc., and as a Professor of Practice/Senior Lecturer in Aerospace Engineering at Iowa State University, where he mentors undergraduate and graduate students.

Selected as a NASA astronaut in 1998, Anderson accumulated 167 days in space across two missions, including a five-month stay aboard the International Space Station during Expeditions 15 and 16 in 2007 and the STS-131 shuttle mission in 2010. He completed six spacewalks totaling 38 hours and 28 minutes, served as crew medical officer on both missions, and was the U.S. Science Officer during his long-duration station assignment.

Before joining the astronaut corps, Anderson held leadership positions in flight design and emergency operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center. Following his NASA retirement in 2013, he expanded his work in education and public engagement, including serving as President and CEO of the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum from 2022 to 2025.

Anderson is the author of five award-winning books, including The Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut. He holds a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University and a bachelor’s degree in physics, earned cum laude, from Hastings College (NE).