Space travels bring astronaut to OSU

Friday, November 10, 2006

American astronaut William S. McArthur Jr., a veteran of three space shuttle missions and one mission to the International Space Station aboard the Russian Soyuz capsule, will speak on Monday, Nov. 13, at OSU.

McArthur, whose visit is sponsored by the OSU College of Education and the NASA Aerospace Education Services Program, will speak on “International Space Station Expedition 12 Highlights” at 7 p.m. in the Student Union Theater. His talk is free and open to the public, and he will sign autographs.

A Master Army Aviator, McArthur has logged more than 4,500 flight hours in 39 different aircraft and spacecraft. He was the commander and International Space Station science officer with the Expedition 12 crew that launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 30, 2005, aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft and docked with the space station on Oct. 3. He was on board the space station until April 8, 2006.

During the six-month tour of duty, the crew conducted two spacewalks and relocated their Soyuz spacecraft twice, becoming the first ISS crew to dock at every Russian docking port on the complex. They were also the first two-person crew to conduct a spacewalk in both Russian and U.S. spacesuits.

In March, McArthur conducted an ISS downlink with OSU’s NASA Professional Development Conference.

McArthur has received the Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal (First Oak Leaf Cluster), the NASA Space Flight Medal and the NASA Exceptional Service Medal.

His wife, Cynthia, is a former OSU NASA Teaching from Space Project education specialist. She now serves as program manager for the OSU Teaching from Space Project at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.