In 2012 I was able to get my "Space Shuttle: The First 20 Years" book signed by ret. Army Col. Jeffrey N. Williams at an event where he was speaking and signing copies of his book, "The Work of His Hands" - but at that time didn't think to get a photo autographed by him. I was thankful when Williams was doing another presentation at a similar event this year, and got permission to send a photo. (For some reason, Williams is a hard signature to get....)
I sent the photo in late September (to the organizers in Texas for the presentation in October in California) and then didn't hear from them. I didn't mind not hearing back nor seeeing my photo since it was "only" a picture and I didn't send in a donation to the church.
Two months later, in December, it shows up in my mailbox. The stamps weren't canceled, so who knows if it got sent late from California, from Texas, or it had wandered around the country thanks to the Post Awful system.
Incidentally, this is a well-traveled photo in another way - as I had given this picture to a friend who was going to Star City, Russia just in case Williams was there, training for his upcoming International Space Station flight.
Williams was selected for the NASA Astronaut Class of 1996. In addition to his space flights, he has performed various technical duties in both the space shuttle and International Space Station Programs. Williams has served in the Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA), Space Station, and Soyuz Branches of the Astronaut Office, led the development of a space shuttle cockpit upgrade, and completed temporary assignments at Marshall Space Flight Center supporting the test and evaluation of the International Space Station Laboratory Module and at NASA Headquarters in support of legislative affairs.
In July 2002, Williams commanded a nine-day coral reef expedition operating from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aquarius undersea habitat off the coast of Florida. Williams has also served on the space station backup flight crews for Expeditions 12, 19, and 20.
Williams served as the flight engineer and lead space walker for space shuttle flight STS-101.
STS-101/Atlantis (May 19 through May 29, 2000) was the third shuttle mission devoted to space station construction. Objectives for the 10-day flight included transporting and installing over 5,000 pounds of equipment and supplies, and included Williams’ first EVA lasting nearly 7 hours.
In 2006, Williams served as flight engineer for Expedition 13, launching on March 29 on the Russian Soyuz TMA-8 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan and docking with the station on March 31.
During the six-month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station, Williams performed two successful space walks (one Russia and one USA) logging an additional 12 hours and 25 minutes of EVA, and also saw the arrival of two space shuttle missions, the resumption of construction of the orbiting laboratory, and the restoration of a three-person expedition crew.
The Expedition 13 mission concluded on September 28 with a safe landing in central Kazakhstan.
On his third space flight, Williams served as a Flight Engineer on Expedition 21 and commanded Expedition 22, again launching from Baikonur on Soyuz TMA-16 on September 30 and docking on October 2, 2009.
During his second 6-month stay onboard the International Space Station, Williams again saw the arrival of two space shuttle missions as well as the integration of a Russian Mini-Research Module, the US Tranquility Module, and the Cupola.
His third flight concluded on March 18, 2010, with the Soyuz landing in Kazakhstan.
During his three flights, Williams logged over 362 days in space, including more than 19 hours in three EVAs.
Williams is currently training as a backup for the one-year flight spanning Expeditions 43-46 beginning in March 2015 and for the prime crew for Expeditions 47 and 48, schedule to launch in March 2016.
I thought this was a neat "behind the scenes" photo of Williams, taking while training during Expedition 13. Signed 11 Oct. 2014, Sun Valley, Calif.
No comments:
Post a Comment