William Surles McArthur Jr. American NASA research astronaut Date of Birth: 06.07.1951 Country: USA

Biography of William S. McArthur Jr.

William S. McArthur Jr. is an American astronaut-researcher at NASA. He has completed four space missions with a total duration of 224 days, 22 hours, 21 minutes, and 32 seconds. McArthur was born on July 6, 1951, in Laurinburg, North Carolina.

After graduating from high school in 1969, McArthur attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. He graduated in 1973 with a bachelor's degree in applied sciences and engineering. From 1973 to 1975, McArthur served in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg in North Carolina. He then attended the U.S. Army Aviation School in Alabama from 1975 to 1976. After completing his training, McArthur served as a commander in the 2nd Infantry Division in South Korea and later in the 24th Aviation Battalion in Savannah. He held various positions, including platoon leader, battalion executive officer, and operations officer.

In 1983, McArthur obtained a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology. From 1983 to 1986, he worked as an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanics at the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 1987, McArthur was selected as part of the 12th group of astronaut candidates. Although he passed the final selection process, he was not chosen to join NASA after the interviews and medical examinations in February at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

In January 1990, McArthur was selected as a flight specialist in the 13th group of NASA astronauts. He completed the full Astronaut Candidate Training Program and was assigned to the NASA Astronaut Office. Throughout his career at NASA, he held various positions, including Flight Crew Support Division Chief and Shuttle Launch Integration Manager. He also served as the NASA Coordinator at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.

In March 2007, McArthur transitioned to the role of astronaut-manager and worked in the Flight Crew Operations Directorate at the Johnson Space Center, focusing on flight safety. His first space flight was as a flight specialist on Space Shuttle Columbia's STS-58C mission from October 18 to November 1, 1993, lasting 14 days, 0 hours, 13 minutes, and 32 seconds. He then participated in the STS-74 mission on Space Shuttle Atlantis from November 12 to 20, 1995, for a duration of 8 days, 4 hours, 31 minutes, and 42 seconds. The purpose of this mission was to deliver a docking module to the Mir space station.

On June 9, 1997, McArthur was assigned to the STS-92 mission. From October 11 to 24, 2000, he completed his third space flight as a flight specialist on Space Shuttle Discovery. He conducted two spacewalks during this mission, with a total duration of 12 days, 21 hours, 43 minutes, and 47 seconds.

In March 2001, McArthur was assigned as the flight engineer for the 8th International Space Station (ISS) expedition, but due to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the crew size for ISS expeditions was reduced. In February 2003, he was designated as the backup commander for the 8th expedition and the commander for the 9th expedition. However, in January 2004, McArthur was removed from the crew due to health concerns raised by Russian doctors. He was replaced by Leroy Chiao.

On January 28, 2004, McArthur and Valery Tokarev were reassigned to the backup crew for the 10th ISS expedition and the primary crew for the 12th expedition. From October 1, 2005, to April 8, 2006, McArthur served as the Soyuz TMA-7 spacecraft flight engineer and the commander of the 12th main ISS crew alongside Valery Tokarev. The mission lasted 189 days, 19 hours, 52 minutes, and 32 seconds. McArthur conducted two spacewalks during this mission.

Throughout his career, William S. McArthur Jr. accumulated over 9000 hours of flight time. He retired from the U.S. Army as a colonel in 2001. McArthur has received numerous awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and three NASA Space Flight Medals in 1993, 1995, and 2000.