SPECIAL HONORS: Distinguished graduate USAF Communication Electronics Officers course. Recipient of the Armed Forces Communication Electronics Associations Academic Excellence Award 1983. Received the USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training Academic Achievement Award for Class 87-08 Vance AFB. Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, the USAF Meritorious Service Medal, and the USAF Achievement Medal with one oak leaf cluster.

EXPERIENCE: Anderson graduated form the University of Washington in 1981 and was commissioned a second lieutenant. After completing a year of technical training at Keesler AFB Mississippi he was assigned to Randolph AFB Texas. At Randolph he served as Chief of Communication Maintenance for the 2015 Communication Squadron and later as Director of Information System Maintenance for the 1920 Information System Group. In 1986 he was selected to attend Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB, Oklahoma. Upon graduation he was assigned to the 2nd Airborne Command and Control Squadron, Offutt AFB Nebraska as an EC 135 pilot, flying the Strategic Air Commands airborne command post code-named "Looking Glass". From January 1991 to September 1992 he served as an aircraft commander and instructor pilot in the 920th Air Refueling Squadron, Wurtsmith AFB Michigan. From September 1992 to February 1995 he was assigned as an instructor pilot and tactics officer in the 380 Air Refueling Wing, Plattsburgh AFB New York. Anderson has logged over 3000 hours in various models of the KC-135 and the T-38A aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in December 1994, Anderson reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. He completed a year of training and evaluation, and is qualified for flight crew assignment as a mission specialist. Anderson was initially assigned technical duties in the Flight Support Branch of the Astronaut Office. Most recently, he flew on the crew of STS-89. In completing his first space flight Anderson has logged over 211 hours in space. Anderson is assigned to the crew of STS-107 scheduled to launch in 2003.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-89 (January 22-31, 1998), was the eighth Shuttle-Mir docking mission during which the crew transferred more than 9,000 pounds of scientific equipment, logistical hardware and water from Space Shuttle Endeavour toMir. In the fifth and last exchange of a U.S. astronaut, STS-89 delivered Andy Thomas to Mir and returned with David Wolf. Mission duration was 8 days, 19 hours and 47 seconds, traveling 3.6 million miles in 138 orbits of the Earth.

Here are some excerpts from NASA's official pre-flight interview for STS-107:

Let's talk a little bit about your background and about yourself. Can you, if you think back, can you pinpoint some of the interests that you had growing up or in school that kind of put you on the road to NASA? What was it about Mike Anderson that, you know, made him astronaut material?

That's a good question. Yeah, I think, like most kids growing up, I had a very wide interest. I was interested in everything, you know, and I tried to, you know, take advantage of everything. And, everything from the sciences to music to writing to literature. I just, you know, was very interested in a number of different things. But as I got older my interests tended to become a little bit more narrow. And, I found that science was something that really caught my attention. It was something I really could sink my teeth into. My dad was in the Air Force. And you know, being an Air Force brat and living on Air Force bases, I was always around airplanes. And, that was something else that really captured my imagination, just seeing airplanes, you know taking off and landing every day, and flying over the house, and making all of this noise just was a fascinating thing to me as a kid. So, my interest in aviation and my interest in science were, I guess, two of the things I really latched on to, and two things that I just couldn't shake as I grew older. So one day, just sitting down and thinking about it, you know, "How can I combine my two strongest interests? My interest in science and my interest in aviation." And, you know, at that time, we were going to the Moon and doing some really fantastic things with the space program. And, to me that was just the best combination of the two. You know, here you have these men that are scientists engineers, and they're also flying these wonderful airplanes and these great spaceships, and they're going places. And to me, that just seemed like the perfect mix and the perfect job. So, very early on, I just thought being an astronaut would be a fantastic thing to do. Of course, you don't know how to go about something like that. You know, you just sort of pursue your interests, and you pray about it, and hopefully one day all things will kind of fall into place and you'll have a chance to make those dreams come true. And fortunately for me it did happen that way. You know, one day I said, "Well, you know, I've been flying airplanes here in the Air Force for quite some time now, and I have a record there. And, I studied science in school. And I'm really ready to put together a package and send it off to NASA and see what they think." And fortunately, I got called down for an interview. And one thing led to the next, and one day I got that call. And, I've been here about seven years now and really enjoying it.

Let's follow up a little bit on your road to NASA. You mentioned some things. Can you outline the specific academic and professional steps you took to get here?

Well, when I was in high school, I knew that if I was going to become an astronaut, I was definitely going to have to go to college. So, I began looking at different colleges and thinking about what it was I wanted to major in. I was really interested in science. I mean, I'd been a science fan since I was a young kid. And so, I thought you know, why narrow myself? I would pick a field of science that was very broad, that would allow me to study a variety of different things. So, I picked physics because out of all the different scientific fields, I think physics is probably the broadest. It covers basically everything. It allows you to really, you know, take your interest and point it in any direction you'd like to point [it] in. So, I went to the University of Washington as a physics and astronomy major there. And just had a marvelous time. I found it very challenge, very rewarding. My other interest, of course, was aviation. I always wanted to be a pilot. I wanted to fly airplanes. And, if you're going to fly airplanes, the best place to be is the Air Force. So, I went through the ROTC program there, and they provided me with a scholarship to help me pay for college. And after I graduated from college, I took a commission as a Second Lieutenant and came in the Air Force through my first four years, actually, in the field of communications-communications and computers. So, I got a chance to learn a little bit about electronics and apply some of my knowledge of physics to you know, improve the communications systems in the Air Force, and working on computers and things like that. But my real interest was flying airplanes. So, after four years of doing that, I put in my application for Flight School and got selected for Flight School, and off I went. After Flight School, I was flying in the Air Force and enjoying that a great deal. But, I realized I really needed to improve myself a little bit more academically. So, I went back to college, picked up a masters degree in physics from Creighton University in Nebraska, and at that point, after having a masters degree and a couple of thousand hours flying aircraft, I thought, "Well, if I'm ever going to make my move towards NASA, I'd better do it now." So one afternoon I sat down and filled out the application and sent it in. And, just kind of sat back and waited. And, fortunately I got a call, an opportunity to come down and interview for the job. And one thing led to another, and I was selected in '95. And it's been a marvelous adventure. I've enjoyed every bit of it. This will be my second spaceflight. And if it's anything like my first flight, it's really going to be exciting.

Another thing just occurred to me. The irony of ironies is that you love flying but not launch. Why?

Well, you know, when you launch in a rocket, you're not really flying that rocket. You're just sort of hanging on. And you know, I really shouldn't say that I don't like launches. I guess I should say, "I understand the serious nature behind a rocket launch." I mean, you're really taking an explosion and you're trying to control it. You're trying to harness that energy in a way that will propel you into space. And we're very successful in doing that. But, there are a million things that can go wrong. And, I think, when you really sit down and you study the space shuttle and you really get to know its systems, you realize that this is a very complex vehicle. And even though we've gone to great pains to make it as safe as we can, there's always the potential for something going wrong. You know, so we try not to think about those things. We train and try to prepare for the things that may go wrong to do the best we can. But, there's always that unknown. And I guess it's that unknown that I don't like. But like I said, the benefits for what we can do on orbit, the science that we do and the benefits we gain from exploring space are well worth the risk. So I don't like launches. But it's worth the effort. It really is.

Outside of your time at NASA, what's been the most enjoyable time of your life?

Well, I guess I'd have to say my career in the Air Force has been really exciting. You know, if you want something that's going to provide you with a lot of challenges and a variety of different things to do, then you really can't beat a place like the Air Force. I don't mean this to sound like a recruiting pitch. But it's been a lot of fun, you know, since the day I first joined in ROTC as a young 17-year-old freshman at the University of Washington to today as an astronaut with NASA, it's just been one challenge after another, one great adventure. And yeah, I've enjoyed it tremendously. So my early years in the Air Force as a young pilot just kind of flying around the world having, you know, fun with my crewmates and doing what I knew was a very important job. Those are highlights that I'll never forget. Just like the things I've had a chance to do here at NASA. They're very important to me.

Can you talk briefly about some of the things or people that have, when you look back, have really inspired you to do what you're doing now? And just maybe how have those things or people inspired you?

Yeah, I think if I look back at my life there are just hundreds of people that have inspired and influenced me in a number of different ways. You know, first of all, you can't forget your parents. You know, and all they've done to help you to get here. But it's really the people that you don't think about every day that influence you. The people, your teachers, you know, the ministers that you worshiped under. The people that you just came into contact with at the right time that just may have said something that turned a light on in your head and led you down a certain path. You know, those people you really just can't thank enough. And as you look back at your life, there are just a million different things that have happened, just in the right way, to allow you to make your dreams come true. And you know, someone has all that under control.