Ordinary Spaceman

Winner of the Nebraska Book Award What’s it like to travel at more than 850 MPH, riding in a supersonic T-38 twin turbojet engine airplane? What happens when the space station toilet breaks? How do astronauts “take out the trash” on a spacewalk, tightly encapsulated in a space suit with just a few layers of fabric and Kevlar between them and the unforgiving vacuum of outer space?The Ordinary Spaceman puts you in the flight suit of U.S. astronaut Clayton C. Anderson and takes you on the journey of this small-town boy from Nebraska who spent 167 days living and working on the International Space Station, including nearly forty hours of space walks. Having applied to NASA fifteen times over fifteen years to become an astronaut before his ultimate selection, Anderson offers a unique perspective on his life as a veteran space flier, one characterized by humility and perseverance.  From the application process to launch aboard the space shuttle Atlantis, from serving as a family escort for the ill-fated Columbia crew in 2003 to his own daily struggles—family separation, competitive battles to win coveted flight assignments, the stress of a highly visible job, and the ever-present risk of having to make the ultimate sacrifice—Anderson shares the full range of his experiences. With a mix of levity and gravitas, Anderson gives an authentic view of the highs and the lows, the triumphs and the tragedies of life as a NASA astronaut.  

“This is The Right Stuff for a new generation. Clayton Anderson is an astronaut for the rest of us; a regular guy from a small Midwestern town who set the bar high for himself and never lost sight of a lofty goal—even when most of us would have given up. As it turns out, it is not so much about having ‘the right stuff’ as it is about never doubting yourself and never settling for less.”—Miles O’Brien, award-winning science journalist for PBS, the National Science Foundation, and CNN , "Clayton Anderson is no ordinary astronaut, and this is no ordinary book. It is an uncompromisingly honest rendering of a challenging and fulfilling life by someone with a singular dream and the moxie to pursue it to success."—Roger Lemkpe, Lincoln Journal Star, "He may have been an ordinary spaceman, but The Ordinary Spaceman demonstrates he is certainly not ordinary."—Jeff Foust, Space Review, "Anderson's down to Earth account of the astronaut's life may help more of us to connect with the profession's forward looking significance—a welcome addition to the outreach successes of Hollywood's Box Office and NASA's social media salvos."—Mark Carreau, Aviation Week Network, "Anderson provides a focused picture of how a fiercely dedicated individual became a spaceman."—Publishers Weekly

Clayton C. Anderson retired in 2013 after a thirty-year career with NASA and two missions to the International Space Station. He is currently the president and CEO of the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum in his hometown of Ashland, Nebraska. Anderson is the author of It’s a Question of Space: An Ordinary Astronaut’s Answers to Sometimes Extraordinary Questions (Nebraska, 2018), as well as the children’s books A is for Astronaut: Blasting Through the Alphabet and Letters from Space. Nevada Barr is an award-winning novelist and best-selling author of the Anna Pigeon series.