William Surles McArthur Jr. (born July 26, 1951) is a retired United States Army colonel and NASA

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

and a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions and one expedition to the International Space Station via the Russian Soyuz capsule.

Army career

Born July 26, 1951, and raised in Red Springs, North Carolina, McArthur was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. He attended the United States Military Academy, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in

Applied Science Applied science is the use of the scientific method and knowledge obtained via conclusions from the method to attain practical goals. It includes a broad range of disciplines such as engineering and medicine. Applied science is often contrasted ...

and Engineering in 1973, and earned his commission in the U.S. Army. After serving with the

82nd Airborne Division The 82nd Airborne Division is an Airborne forces, airborne infantry division (military), division of the United States Army specializing in Paratrooper, parachute assault operations into denied areasSof, Eric"82nd Airborne Division" ''Spec Ops ...

Fort Bragg Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cum ...

, North Carolina, McArthur attended the

U.S. Army Aviation School The U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence, formerly known as the Army Aviation Center and School, is the United States Army Aviation Branch's headquarters and training and development center, located at Fort Rucker, Alabama. It coordinates a ...

and served tours of duty in Korea and Georgia (where he earned a Master of Science degree in

Aerospace Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

from the

Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology, commonly referred to as Georgia Tech or, in the state of Georgia, as Tech or The Institute, is a public research university and institute of technology in Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1885, it is part of ...

in 1983).

NASA career

In 1987, McArthur attended the

U.S. Naval Test Pilot School The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland, provides instruction to experienced United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and foreign military experi ...

and was trained as an experimental test pilot. He was assigned to a post as a flight test engineer at NASA and was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1990. McArthur's first spaceflight was in 1993 aboard STS-58. Subsequent missions included STS-74 in 1995 and

STS-92 STS-92 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Discovery''. STS-92 marked the 100th mission of the Space Shuttle. It was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, 11 October 2000. Crew ...

in 2000. A Master Army Aviator, McArthur has logged over 9,000 flight hours in 41 different aircraft and spacecraft. McArthur is the recipient of a number of prestigious awards and honors including the

Army Distinguished Service Medal The Distinguished Service Medal (DSM) is a military decoration of the United States Army that is presented to soldiers who have distinguished themselves by exceptionally meritorious service to the government in a duty of great responsibility. Th ...

, the

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal ( Oak leaf cluster), the

NASA Distinguished Service Medal The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both milita ...

, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the NASA Space Flight Medal. He retired from the U.S. Army in 2001. McArthur was on board the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 12, having been launched on

Soyuz TMA-7 Soyuz TMA-7 (russian: Союз ТМА-7) was a transport mission for portions of the International Space Station (ISS) ''Expedition 12'' crew launched October 1, 2005. The flight delivered ISS Commander William McArthur and ISS Flight Engineer ...

. He lived aboard the station from October 3, 2005, until April 8, 2006. McArthur served as the Director of Safety and Mission Assurance for the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

until his retirement in June of 2017.

Expedition 12

In April 2006, McArthur and Expedition 13 flight officer Jeffrey Williams tested a new method of preparing for

spacewalk Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmen ...

s by "camping out" or spending the night in the

Quest airlock The ''Quest'' Joint Airlock, previously known as the Joint Airlock Module, is the primary airlock for the International Space Station. ''Quest'' was designed to host spacewalks with both Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) spacesuits and Orlan ...

, the decompression capsule through which astronauts enter and exit space. In the chamber the pressure was reduced from the normal 14.7 pounds per square inch (psi) to 10.2 psi. The more commonly used method of preparing for spacewalks involves breathing pure oxygen for several hours to purge the body of nitrogen and avoid

the bends "The bends" is a colloquialism for decompression sickness. The Bends may also refer to: * ''The Bends'' (album), a 1995 studio album by Radiohead * "The Bends" (song), a 1995 song by Radiohead * "The Bends", a song by Mr. Bungle from the 1995 alb ...

. The "campout" method was intended to shorten that lengthy preparation time. Four hours into their sleep an error tone prompted mission controllers to cut short the activity, though it was still deemed a success.

Personal life

McArthur is married to the former Cynthia Kathryn Lovin with two daughters, and enjoys cycling, photography, and working with personal computers. In May 2009 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde in recognition of his contribution to space science and engineering, as well as his outreach work with the

Scottish Space School The Careers Scotland Space School, also known as the Scottish Space School, is an organisation set up by Careers Scotland and funded by the Scottish Government. This is a government programme, organised as a partnership initiative with NASA (Nation ...

. He resides in Friendswood, Texas.

Awards

References

External links

NASA's Expedition 12 page

{{DEFAULTSORT:McArthur, William S. 1951 births Living people United States Army astronauts NASA civilian astronauts Commanders of the International Space Station Crew members of the International Space Station People from Laurinburg, North Carolina United States Military Academy alumni United States Military Academy faculty Georgia Tech alumni United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni United States Army colonels American test pilots 21st-century American engineers Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal Space Shuttle program astronauts Spacewalkers Mir crew members