Home for the holidays has a whole new meaning when home is the planet you returned to just last week. But that is what astronaut Clay Anderson has done, landing Nov. 7 after five months in orbit aboard the International Space Station, just in time for a holiday season with his family.

"Seeing my family after several months aboard the station has taught me a new meaning of the word 'thanksgiving,'" Anderson said. "We had a tremendously successful expedition during my time aboard the station, and it is really heartwarming to be able to complete my mission, come back to Earth with a great crew and relax and enjoy the season with loved ones."

Anderson served as part of the Expedition 15 crew aboard the station after launching on mission STS-117 aboard the space shuttle Atlantis on June 8, 2007. While aboard the station, Anderson conducted several spacewalks and helped relocate the shuttle's docking port using the station's robotic arm. His work has helped the station begin the first expansion of its living and working space in more than six years.

Anderson returned to Earth aboard the shuttle Discovery, which completed a challenging solar array repair and attached the Harmony connecting module to the complex. The additional power from the arrays and the new Harmony's berthing ports will allow international science labs from Europe and Japan to be launched during the next few months.

Anderson joined the Johnson Space Center in 1983 in the Mission Planning and Analysis Division where he performed rendezvous and proximity operations trajectory designs for early Space Shuttle and Space Station missions. In 1988 he moved to the Mission Operations Directorate (MOD) as a Flight Design Manager leading the trajectory design team for the Galileo planetary mission (STS-34) while serving as the backup for the Magellan planetary mission (STS-31). In 1989, Anderson was chosen supervisor of the MOD Ascent Flight Design Section and following reorganization, the Flight Design Engineering Office of the Flight Design and Dynamics Division. In 1993 he was named the Chief of the Flight Design Branch. From 1996 until his selection Anderson held the post of Manager, Emergency Operations Center, NASA Johnson Space Center.

Selected as a mission specialist by NASA in June 1998, he reported for training in August of that year. Training included orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station (ISS) systems, physiological training, ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques.

Prior to being assigned to a spaceflight Anderson served as the lead for the Enhanced Caution and Warning (ECW) System development effort within the Space Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade (CAU) Project. Previously, he was the Crew Support Astronaut for ISS Expedition 4, providing ground support on technical issues in addition to supporting the crew families. Anderson also served as an ISS Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) and as the Astronaut Office crew representative for the Station's electrical power system. In November of 2002, Anderson completed training in the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Skills program. He also served as back-up Flight Engineer for Expeditions 12, 13 and 14 to the Station.

FMI: www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition15/index.html