Anderson, Michael P.

▪ 2004

      American astronaut (b. Dec. 25, 1959, Plattsburgh, N.Y.—d. Feb. 1, 2003, over Texas), was the payload commander and a mission specialist on the space shuttle Columbia. Anderson was educated at the University of Washington and at Creighton University, Omaha, Neb., where he earned a master's degree in physics. In 1991–95 he served in the U.S. Air Force as an instructor pilot and tactical officer, and in 1998 he flew in the space shuttle Endeavour on a mission to the Russian space station Mir.

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