Piers Sellers

Piers Sellers
Status	Active
Nationality	British / American
Occupation	Research scientist
Space career
NASA Astronaut
Time in space	23d 14h 34m
Selection	1996 NASA Group
Missions	STS-112, STS-121
Mission insignia

Piers John Sellers (born 11 April 1955) is a British-born American meterologist and a NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and is assigned to the crew of the STS-132 mission in 2010.

Education

Sellers, born in Crowborough, Sussex, was educated at Tyttenhanger Lodge Pre-preparatory School in Seaford, East Sussex and Cranbrook School, Kent, where he was trained as a Royal Air Force cadet to pilot gliders and powered aircraft. He earned a bachelor of science degree in ecological science from the University of Edinburgh and a doctorate in biometeorology from the University of Leeds.

Career

Sellers and his wife left the UK in 1982, moving to the United States, where he began his NASA career as a research meteorologist at Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Sellers' work in the field of meteorology focused primarily on computer modeling of climate systems, but he maintained his aircraft pilot skills. Sellers began applying annually to become an astronaut in 1984, but his lack of US citizenship was a problem; he became a naturalized US citizen in 1991.

NASA career

Sellers performing a spacewalk during STS-121.

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in April 1996, Piers reported to the NASA Johnson Space Center in August 1996. He completed two years of training and evaluation and was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch, followed by service in the Astronaut Office Space Station Branch. During that time, Piers worked part time in Moscow as a technical liaison on ISS computer software. Twice flown, Piers has logged over 559 hours in space, including almost 41 EVA hours in 6 spacewalks.

Spaceflight experience

STS-112 —- Space Shuttle Atlantis — (October 7-18, 2002) was an International Space Station assembly mission during which the crew conducted joint operations with the Expedition-5 in delivering and installing the S-One Truss (the third piece of the station's 11-piece Integrated Truss Structure). To outfit and activate the new component Sellers performed three spacewalks and logged a total of 19 hours and 41 minutes of EVA. The crew also transferred cargo between the two vehicles and used the shuttle's thruster jets during two maneuvers to raise the station's orbit. STS-112 was the first shuttle mission to use a camera on the External Tank, providing a live view of the launch to flight controllers and NASA TV viewers. The mission was accomplished in 170 orbits, traveling 4.5 million miles in 10 days, 19 hours, and 58 minutes.

STS-121 — Space Shuttle Discovery — (July 4-17, 2006), was a return-to-flight test mission and assembly flight to the International Space Station. During the 13-day flight the crew of Discovery tested new equipment and procedures that increase the safety of space shuttles, and produced never-before-seen, high-resolution images of the Shuttle during and after its July 4 launch. The crew also performed maintenance on the space station and delivered and transferred more than 28,000 pounds of supplies and equipment, and a new Expedition 13 crew member to the station. Sellers and Mike Fossum performed three EVAs to test the 50-ft robotic arm boom extension as a work platform. They removed and replaced a cable that provides power, command and data and video connections to the station’s mobile transporter rail car. They also tested techniques for inspecting and repairing the reinforced carbon-carbon segments that protect the shuttle’s nose cone and leading edge of the wings. The STS-121 mission was accomplished in 306 hours, 37 minutes and 54 seconds.

Personal

His favorite band is rock group Garbage. He met the band in Houston, Texas when the band played there in April 2002. He told them he would be taking their albums into space with him. When he met the group for the second time in November 2002, he showed them a picture of their album spinning free in outer space. He was mildly embarrassed, because the CD was in fact a Russian bootleg and not an official pressing of their album.

Sellers also took with him a copy of Cranbrook School's charter which was signed by his fellow astronauts and then presented to the school. The school's observatory, built in 2005, is named after him.

In May of 2010 Piers Sellers is taking an original watercolor portrait of Cranbrook School painted by Brenda Barratt into outer space aboard the Space Shuttle.

He also took a University of Edinburgh flag into space, which he presented to the University when he and his fellow crew members visited to give a talk about STS-112. This flag can now be seen in the display cabinets behind the Reception at Old College, Edinburgh. In addition, he took a velvet patch of the University's crest into space on his second flight, which was sown to the graduating bonnet used in the University's graduation ceremonies.

He was the winner of the Inspiration Award in the 2008 Sir Arthur Clarke Awards.

External links

• NASA biography
• STS-112 Pre-flight interview: Piers Sellers — 2002
• STS-121 Preflight Interview: Piers Sellers — 2006, discusses the Return to Flight programme
• Spacefacts Biography of Piers Sellers, July 17, 2006
• NASA astronaut’s early career in WCRP — Interview published 2007, detailing Sellers' career in meteorology and climate research