Summary
Biography
NASA Experience
Piers Sellers was accepted by NASA as an astronaut
candidate in 1996.
After two years of training and assessment, he
started work in the Astronaut Office at the Johnson
Space Center. He also worked part-time in Moscow,
as part of the International Space Station (ISS)
liaison team.
First Spaceflight
His first spaceflight came in 2002, on the space
shuttle Atlantis (STS 112). On this flight, he
made 170 orbits of the Earth over a period of
10 days.
It was an assembly mission for the International
Space Station (ISS), which successfully delivered
and installed a new component for the ISS Truss
Structure.
Piers Sellers made three spacewalks during this
work and spent over 19 hours outside on Extra-Vehicular
Activity (EVA).
Pre-NASA Experience
His connection with Cranbrook School, Kent started
much earlier, of course.
He was born nearby in Crowborough, East Sussex
in 1955 and later attended Cranbrook School until
1973.
At Cranbrook, Piers Sellers was in Rammell House,
a rather grand-looking boarding house for senior
boys which was founded in 1926.
From Cranbrook, he went on to Edinburgh University,
where he graduated in 1976 with a BSc. in Ecological
Science.
Post-graduate research followed, resulting in
a PhD in Biometeorolgy from Leeds University in
1981.
He moved to the United States in 1982 and applied
to become an astronaut soon after. Although born
British, he decided to become a US citizen to
increase his chance of being accepted into NASA.
US citizenship was granted in 1991.
Next Space Mission
Piers Sellers will shortly blast-off again on
the next flight of space shuttle Discovery (STS
121). He is scheduled for two more spacewalks
during this flight, which is expected to last
12 days.
This mission will carry out maintenance to the
International Space Station (ISS) and also deliver
supplies and a third crew member, Thomas Reiter.
We wish him and the other crew members, good
luck on their adventure.
|
CADSAS.COM
