McArthur Credit: www.spacefacts.de |
Status: Inactive; Active 1990-2012. Born: 1951-07-26. Spaceflights: 4 . Total time in space: 224.93 days. Birth Place: Laurinburg, North Carolina.
Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:William Surles "Bill" McArthur, Jr., (Colonel, U.S. Army, Ret.)
Director, Safety & Mission Assurance, Johnson Space Center
Pronunciation: WIHL’-yuhm Muhk-AR’-ther
PERSONAL DATA: Born July 26, 1951, in Laurinburg, North Carolina. His hometown is Wakulla, North Carolina. Married to the former Cynthia Kathryn Lovin of Red Springs, North Carolina. They have two daughters and four grandchildren. He enjoys biking, photography and working with personal computers. His parents, Brigadier General William S. McArthur and Edith P. Avant, and stepfather, Weldon C. Avant, are deceased.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Red Springs High School, Red Springs, North Carolina, 1969; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Science and Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, 1973, and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, 1983.
ORGANIZATIONS: American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA); Army Aviation Association of America; Association of the U.S. Army; U.S. Military Academy Association of Graduates; West Point Society of Greater Houston; MENSA; Phi Kappa Phi and the Association of Space Explorers.
SPECIAL HONORS: Army Distinguished Service Medal; Defense Superior Service Medal; Defense Meritorious Service Medal (First Oak Leaf Cluster); Meritorious Service Medal (First Oak Leaf Cluster); Army Commendation Medal; NASA Space Flight Medal; NASA Distinguished Service Medal; NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal; NASA Exceptional Service Medal; Russian Federation Medal of Merit for Space Exploration; Distinguished Graduate of the U.S. Army Aviation School; Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland; Honorary Doctor of Science degree from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke; Recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, North Carolina’s highest civilian award; Georgia Tech Academy of Distinguished Engineering Alumni, 1996; Komarov Diploma from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) 1993, 2006; American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement Award, 1996; Visiting Green Honors Professor, Department of Science and Engineering, Texas Christian University, 1997; Ellis Island Medal of Honor; Order of Saint Michael (Gold and Silver Awards) from the Army Aviation Association of America; Robert M. Leich Award from the Army Aviation Association of America, 2000; Korolev Diploma presented by the FAI, 2000; West Point Distinguished Graduate Award, 2011; Georgia Tech College of Engineering Hall of Fame, 2013.
EXPERIENCE: : McArthur graduated from West Point in June 1973 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army. Following a tour with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, he entered the U.S. Army Aviation School in 1975. He was the top graduate of his flight class and was designated an Army aviator in June 1976. He subsequently served as an aeroscout team leader and brigade aviation section commander with the 2nd Infantry Division in the Republic of Korea. In 1978, he was assigned to the 24th Combat Aviation Battalion in Savannah, Georgia, where he served as a company commander, platoon leader and operations officer. After completing studies at Georgia Tech, he was assigned to the Department of Mechanics at West Point as an assistant professor. In June 1987, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and was designated an experimental test pilot. Other military schools completed include the Army Parachutist course, the Jumpmaster course and the Command and General Staff Officers’ course.
McArthur retired from the U.S. Army in 2001.
A master army aviator, he has logged more than 9,000 flight hours in 41 different air/spacecrafts.
NASA EXPERIENCE: McArthur was assigned to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in August 1987 as a space shuttle vehicle integration test engineer. Duties involved serving as the engineering liaison for launch and landing operations of the space shuttle. He was actively involved in the integrated test of the flight control system for each orbiter for its return to flight and was a member of the Emergency Escape and Rescue Working Group.
Selected by NASA in January 1990, McArthur became an astronaut in July 1991. Since then, McArthur has held various assignments within the Astronaut Office, including working issues relating to the solid rocket booster, redesigned solid rocket motor and the advanced solid rocket motor. He served as chief of the Astronaut Office Flight Support branch, supervising astronaut support of the Mission Control Center, prelaunch space shuttle processing and launch and landing operations. McArthur also served as director of operations overseeing training activities for astronauts in Star City, Russia and, later, as chief of the Astronaut Office Space Station branch. McArthur served as commander on the Expedition 8 and 10 backup crews. A veteran of four spaceflights, McArthur has logged 224 days, 22 hours, 28 minutes and 10 seconds in space, including 24 hours and 21 minutes of spacewalk time in four spacewalks. Subsequent assignments included manager of the space shuttle safety and mission assurance office and as the space shuttle orbiter project manager. McArthur currently serves as the director of safety and mission assurance for the Johnson Space Center.
SPACEFLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-58 Columbia (October 18, 1993 through November 1, 1993) was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the mission, the crew performed neurovestibular, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, metabolic and musculoskeletal medical experiments on themselves and 48 rats, expanding our knowledge of human and animal physiology both on Earth and in spaceflight. In addition, the crew performed 16 engineering tests aboard the orbiter Columbia and 20 Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project experiments. Additionally, the crew made extensive contacts with school children and amateur radio operators around the world through the Shuttle Amateur Radio experiment. The STS-58 mission was accomplished in 225 Earth orbits in 336 hours, 13 minutes and 1 second.
STS-74 Atlantis (November 12, 1995 through November 20, 1995) was NASA’s second space shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-74 was launched from and returned to land at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. During the eight day flight, the crew successfully attached a permanent docking module to Mir, conducted experiments on a number of secondary payloads and transferred one-and-a-half tons of supplies between Atlantis and Mir. The STS-74 mission was accomplished in 129 Earth orbits, traveling 3.4 million miles in 196 hours, 30 minutes and 44 seconds.
STS-92 Discovery (October 11, 2000 through October 24, 2000) was launched from Kennedy Space Center and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the 13 day flight, the seven member crew attached the Z1 Truss and Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 to the International Space Station (ISS) using Discovery’s robotic arm and performed four spacewalks to configure these elements. This expansion of the ISS opened the door for future assembly missions and prepared the station for its first resident crew. McArthur’s spacewalk time totaled 13 hours and 16 minutes. The STS-92 mission was accomplished in 202 Earth orbits, traveling 5.3 million miles in 12 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes and 25 seconds.
Expedition 12 (September 30, 2005 through April 8, 2006). McArthur was the commander and ISS science officer on the Expedition12 crew, which launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 30, 2005 aboard a Soyuz TMA spacecraft and docked with the space station on October 3, 2005. During a 6-month tour of duty aboard the station, the crew conducted two spacewalks and relocated their Soyuz spacecraft twice; becoming the first ISS crew to dock to every Russian docking port on the complex. They also became the first two-person crew to conduct a spacewalk in both Russian and U.S. spacesuits. The mission was accomplished in 189 days, 19 hours and 53 minutes and included 11 hours and 5 minutes of spacewalk time.
SEPTEMBER 2014
A Master Army Aviator, he has logged over 4000 flight hours in 37 different aircraft.
Selected by NASA in January 1990, McArthur became an astronaut in July 1991. Since then, McArthur has held various assignments within the Astronaut Office including: working issues relating to the solid rocket booster, redesigned solid rocket motor, and the advanced solid rocket motor. A veteran of two space flights, McArthur has logged 354 orbits of the Earth, traveled 9.2 million miles in 22 days, 4 hours, 44 minutes and 45 seconds.
McArthur served as a mission specialist on STS-58 on the seven-person life science research mission aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, launching from the Kennedy Space Center on October 18, 1993, and landing at Edwards Air Force Base on November 1, 1993. The crew performed neurovestibular, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and musculoskeletal medical experiments on themselves and 48 rats, expanding our knowledge of human and animal physiology both on earth and in space flight. In addition, the crew performed 16 engineering tests aboard the Orbiter Columbia and 20 Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project experiments. Additionally, the crew made extensive contacts with school children and amateur radio operators around the world through the Shuttle Amateur Radio experiment. The mission was accomplished in 225 orbits of the Earth in 336 hours, 13 minutes, 01 second.
Most recently, McArthur served as a mission specialist on STS-74, NASA's second Space Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. STS-74 launched on November 12, 1995, and landed at Kennedy Space Center on November 20, 1995. During the 8-day flight the crew aboard Atlantis successfully attached a permanent docking module to Mir, conducted experiments on a number of secondary payloads, and transferred one and a half tons of supplies between Atlantis and Mir. The STS-74 mission was accomplished in 129 orbits of the Earth, traveling 3.4 million miles in 196 hours, 30 minutes, 44 seconds.Currently, McArthur is assigned as the Chief of the Astronaut Office Flight Support Branch, supervising astronaut support of the Mission Control Center, prelaunch Space Shuttle processing, and launch and landing operations.
The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.
Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Reported to the Johnson Space Center in late July 1990 to begin their year long training. Chosen from 1945 qualified applicants, then 106 finalists screened between September and November 1989.
Rendezvoused and docked with Mir space station on November 15. Delivered the Russian-built 316GK Shuttle-Mir docking module to Mir.Payloads: Shuttle-Mir Mission 2; docking module with two attached solar arrays; IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC); Glow Experiment (GLO-4)/ Photogrammetric Appendage Structural Dynamics Experiment (PASDE) Payload (GPP); Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) II.
ISS Logistics flight. 100th shuttle flight. Launch delayed from October 6. STS-92 brought the Z-1 Truss (mounted on a Spacelab pallet), Control Moment Gyros, Pressurised Mating Adapter-3 (PMA-3) and two DDCU (Heat pipes) to the International Space Station.
The RSRM-76 solid rocket boosters separated at 23:19 GMT and main engine cut-off (MECO) came at 23:25 GMT. External tank ET-104 separated into a 74 x 323 km x 51.6 deg orbit. At apogee at 00:01 GMT on Oct 12, Discovery's OMS engines fired to raise perigee to a 158 x 322 km x 51.6 deg orbit; ET-104 re-entered over the Pacific around 00:30 GMT. At Oct 12 on 03:01 GMT the NC1 burn raised the orbit to 180 x 349 km; NC3 on Oct 12 to 311 x 375 km; and the TI burn at 14:09 GMT on Oct 13 to 375 x 381 km x 51.6 deg. Discovery's rendezvous with the International Space Station came at 15:39 GMT on Oct 13, with docking at 17:45 GMT. The spaceship docked with PMA-2, the docking port on the +Y port of the Space Station's Unity module. Hatch was open to PMA-2 at 20:30 GMT the same day.
STS-92 Cargo Manifest
Total payload bay cargo: ca. 14,800 kg
The Z1 first segment of the space station truss was built by Boeing/Canoga Park and was 3.5 x 4.5 meters in size. It was attached to the +Z port on Unity. Z1 carried the control moment gyros, the S-band antenna, and the Ku-band antenna.
PMA-3, built by Boeing/Huntington Beach, was docked to the -Z port opposite Z1. PMA-3 was installed on a Spacelab pallet for launch.
On October 14 at 16:15 GMT the Z1 segment was unberthed from the payload bay and at around 18:20 GMT it was docked to the zenith port on the Unity module.
On October 15 at 14:20 GMT the ODS airlock was depressurised, beginning a spacewalk by Bill McArthur and Leroy Chiao. Official NASA EVA duration (battery power to repress) was 6 hours 28 minutes.
The second spacewalk was on October 16, with Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria. The suits went to battery power at 14:15 GMT and Wisoff left the airlock at 14:21 GMT. Repressurisation began at 21:22 GMT for a duration of 7 hours 07minutes.
Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur began the third STS-92 EVA at 15:30 GMT on October 17, completing their work at 22:18 GMT for a total time of 6 hours 48 minutes.
After the spacewalk, Discovery completed the second of the three station reboosts scheduled for STS-92. They fired reaction control system jets in a series of pulses of 1.4 seconds each, over a 30-minute period, gently raising the station's orbit by about 3.1 km.
The last of four successful spacewalks began on 18 October at 16:00 GMT and ended at 22:56 GMT, lasting 6 hours and 56 minutes. Jeff Wisoff and Mike Lopez-Alegria each jetted slowly through space above Discovery's cargo bay.
After the space walk, Discovery completed the third and final reboost of the space station.
On 19 October the astronauts worked within the ISS. They completed connections for the newly installed Z1 external framework structure and transferred equipment and supplies for the Expedition One first resident crew of the Station. The crew also tested the four 290-kg gyroscopes in the truss, called Control Moment Gyros, which will be used to orient the ISS as it orbits the Earth. They will ultimately assume attitude control of the ISS following the arrival of the U.S. Laboratory Destiny. The tests and the transfer of supplies into the Russian Zarya Module took longer than expected. As a result, the crew's final departure from the Station's Unity module was delayed. Melroy and Wisoff took samples from surfaces in Zarya to study the module's environment. They then unclogged the solid waste disposal system in the Shuttle's toilet, which was restored to full operation after a brief interruption in service.
Discovery undocked from the ISS at 16:08 GMT on 20 October. The final separation burn was executed about 45 minutes after undocking. The crew had added 9 tonnes to the station's mass, bringing it to about 72 tonnes. The return to earth, planned for 22 October, was delayed repeatedly due to high winds at the Kennedy landing site. The landing was finally made at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 24, at 22:00 GMT.
The seven crew members aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery spent their first full day in orbit today checking equipment in preparation for the major events to come: docking with the International Space Station on Friday and, in following days, attaching an exterior framework and additional Shuttle docking port to the orbiting outpost. Additional Details: here....
The crew of Discovery added nine tons of critical equipment to the International Space Station today, attaching a framework that holds motion control gyroscopes and communications equipment and that will serve as a support for a giant set of solar arrays to be launched on the next Space Shuttle flight. Additional Details: here....
Discovery's crew is set to install the first of two major components that it carried to the Space Station today - a unique piece of hardware called the Z1 truss. The truss is an exterior framework that houses gyroscopes and communications equipment and later will serve as a mounting platform for large solar arrays that will provide power to the International Space Station. Additional Details: here....
A key structural element for the International Space Station is now electrically connected to the rest of the station and important communications equipment set up after today's successful space walk by astronauts Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur. "The crew ... worked absolutely perfectly together, " said lead flight director Chuck Shaw in an evening press conference afterward. "It's a major achievement for this complicated an EVA to go this well." Additional Details: here....
Mission Specialists Leroy Chiao and Bill McArthur completed the third successful spacewalk of Discovery's STS-92 mission at 4:18 p.m. CDT Tuesday, installing two DC-to-DC converter units atop the International Space Station's new Z1 Truss. Those two 129-pound converters, called DDCUs, will convert electricity generated by the huge solar arrays to be attached during the next shuttle mission to the proper voltage. Additional Details: here....
The astronauts installed two 58 kg DDCU DC-to-DC converter units atop the International Space Station's Z1 Truss. The DDCUs, will convert electricity generated by the solar arrays to be attached during the next shuttle mission. The spacewalkers also completed power cable connections on both the Z1 truss and newly installed docking port, PMA-3. They connected and reconfigured cables to route power from Pressurised Mating Adapter-2 to PMA-3 for the arrival of Endeavour and the STS-97 crew next month. They also attached a second tool storage box on the Z1 truss, providing a place to hold the tools and spacewalking aids for future assembly flights. McArthur stocked the boxes with tools and hardware that had been attached to the Unity module. STS-96 Astronauts Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry had left the tools on the outside of Unity during a May 1999 spacewalk.
Following four consecutive days of on-orbit construction outside the International Space Station, Discovery's astronauts today will work inside the Unity and Zarya modules, completing some final connections for the new Z1 Truss and transferring equipment for use by the first resident crew, slated to arrive early next month. Additional Details: here....
Discovery's astronauts prepared for a Monday landing after high crosswinds at Kennedy Space Center caused a delay of at least one day in their return to Earth and the end of their successful mission to expand the International Space Station and ready it for its first crew. Additional Details: here....
Discovery glided to a textbook landing under sunny skies at Edwards Air Force Base in California on Tuesday, completing a successful mission to the International Space Station. The crew spent more than two extra days in space because of unfavorable weather at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and at Edwards. Additional Details: here....
A 2½-ton delivery arrived at the back door of the International Space Station today as an unpiloted Russian cargo ship linked up to the Zvezda module's docking port at 9:42 a.m. CDT, filled with supplies for Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and Flight Engineer John Phillips and spare parts for repair to some Station systems. Additional Details: here....
Launch delayed from September 27. Soyuz TMA-7 docked with the International Space Station at 05:27 GMT on 3 October, bringing the long duration EO-12 crew of (McArthur, Commander; Tokarev, Flight Engineer) and space tourist Olsen. McArthur, Tokarev and Pontes (brought to the station aboard Soyuz TMA-8) transferred to TMA-7 on April 8, 2006, closing the hatches at 17:15 GMT and undocking from Zvezda at 20:28 GMT, leaving Vinogradov and Williams from Soyuz TMA-8 as the Expedition 13 in charge of the station. Soyuz TMA-7 fired its engines at 22:58 GMT for the deorbit burn and landed in Kazakhstan at 23:48 GMT.
Following the docking of the Soyuz spacecraft early Monday morning, the space station is now home to a new crew. Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur and Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev, joined by spaceflight participant Gregory Olsen, spent the week on board with the Expedition 11 crew performing handover and transfer activities. Additional Details: here....
After traveling 75 million miles during six months on the international space station, Expedition 11 Commander Sergei Krikalev and NASA ISS Science Officer John Phillips returned to Earth today. With them was American Greg Olsen, who spent eight days on the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency. Additional Details: here....
Growing increasingly familiar with their microgravity home and laboratory in space, the 12th international space station crew turned its attention to experiment work, began preparations for the first space station-based spacewalk using U.S. suits since 2003 and captured spectacular images and video of the latest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin, Hurricane Wilma. Additional Details: here....
The EVA started an hour late due to a misaligned valve in the Quest airlock module. The crew installed a television camera on the outboard end of the port truss segment of the ISS and removed a failed Rotary Joint Motor Controller (RJMC). They then moved hand over hand to the P6 truss, 16 m above the Destiny module. McArthur removed an old experiment, the Floating Potential Probe, and pushed it away from the station. Finally the crew replaced a failed circuit breaker in the Mobile Transporter.
Wearing Orlan suits, the crew emerged from the Pirs airlock of the station and first released a surplus Orlan suit with its radio transmitter activated, dubbed SuitSat. SuitSat broadcast greetings in six languages to radio amateurs for two orbits before its batteries failed. The crew then moved to the Zarya module and relocated the Strela crane grapple fixture to the Unity module. This cleared Zarya for the future temporary stowage of debris shields. The crew moved on to the station's center truss, where they safed a cutting mechanism on one of two umbilicals to the Mobile Transporter rail car. Returning to Pirs, they retrieved a microorganism experiment and photographed the exterior of Zvezda.