Ordinary Spaceman by Clayton C. Anderson - There's Nothing Ordinary About This Man Except How He Relates To People

Ordinary Spaceman: From Boyhood Dreams to Astronaut by Clayton C. Anderson

Ordinary spaceman? Is there such a person? In my mind, no one selected to fly into the hostile environment of space can be considered ordinary. NASA only selects the best people among their thousands of applicants to fly and represent the agency, as well as the United States.

As far back as I can remember in my life, I have always revered astronauts as heroes. I wanted to be an astronaut and held onto that dream for many years of my young life until I concluded I just didn’t have what it takes to be one of that elite corps of people. So, what is the next best thing to being an astronaut? Perhaps one thing would be to meet astronauts in person. I finally got my wish on July 17, 2019 at the local public library where retired United States Astronaut, Clay Anderson was presenting a talk followed by a book signing. Chrissy (my daughter) and I met Clay at the end of his book signing. I bought three of his books, two for myself, and a copy of his children’s book, A is for Astronaut, to donate to our preschool class where I work.

We talked with Clay for quite some time, and he graciously allowed Chrissy and I to pose with him for a photo. I found him to be an ordinary guy who has done some extraordinary things and a lot of fun to visit with. In his book, Ordinary Astronaut, he promises he will be very candid about his experiences growing up in Nebraska, attending Hastings College, also in Nebraska, and his time in graduate school at Iowa State University. During the time of his schooling, he received the opportunity to intern with NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. Upon graduation, he went to work with NASA and thus began his adventure in becoming an astronaut and what it takes to pursue one’s dreams.

Clay’s account of his life with NASA isn’t in chronological order, instead he bounces back and forth in his life’s timeline with each chapter devoted to some aspect of astronaut life. He candidly expresses his experiences, the circumstances surrounding them, and the feelings he had at particular times in his life. One of the most impressive aspects of his writing is how he can make a reader feel the emotions that go along with being a spaceman. Everything is not all fun and games. Astronaut life is hard. It involves constant training, a lot of which seems not only to prepare one for life in space, but for life as a team player. According to Clay, he went through a full gamut of emotions from elation to depths of depression. There is a chapter dealing with his role as Astronaut Escort for a family of the Columbia disaster, which is heart-wrenching. Another chapter hilariously describes how the waste management system during a flight works.

What I got out of Clay’s story is how the perseverance of a person can pay off if one just follows their dream and never loses sight of it. The narrative is well written and I would recommend this book to the curious, but especially to those who might consider a career with NASA. It is also an excellent book to read if one is looking for inspiration and just what one can accomplish when one sets their mind to something.

I know Chrissy and I will remember our brief time talking with Clay Anderson, and I hope I can meet him again sometime in the future. He is an ordinary man, or as some would say, “a regular guy.” However, this ordinary man has led a life filled with extraordinary experiences, as one will see in this book.

Me, Clayton, & Chrissy at the Kearney Public Library

Clayton C Anderson is (so far) the only person from Nebraska to be an astronaut. He flew on Shuttle mission STS-117 to the International Space Station and joined the station’s crew for Expeditions 15 and 16 for and spent 152 days aboard. He returned to earth aboard the STS-120 mission. He also flew on STS-131 as a Mission Specialist. He also logged thirty eight and one-half hours on six spacewalks. He is currently an author, a motivational speaker, and a Professor of Practice at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. 

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