Soyuz TMA-7 launched 2005

Gregory Olsen, Valeri Tokarev, William McArthur

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-7, launched October 1, 2005, carried the crew of Expedition 12 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Valeri Tokarev (Roscosmos) and William McArthur (NASA).  Space tourist Gregory Olsen was also on board.

Tokarev and McArthur returned to Earth in April 2006 with Brazilian astronaut Marcos Pontes.

I could not find a video of the launch. 😧

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut William McArthur!

William McArthur, born July 26, 1951 in Laurinburg, North Carolina, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions and one trip to the International Space Station.

His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) as mission specialist October-November 1993. During the flight, he tested the Lower Body Negative Pressure device as a countermeasure for the detrimental effects of microgravity.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-74) as mission specialist in November 1995.  He inspected spacesuits that would be needed in case an EVA would be needed.  It wasn't.

McArthur's third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-92) as mission specialist in October 2000.  He performed two EVAs during the mission with fellow astronaut Leroy Chiao for a total time of 14 hours.

His fourth and final trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-7 as flight engineer to the ISS in October 2005- April 2006 as part of Expedition 12.

Columbia (STS-58) launched 1993

Seated (L-R): David Wolf, Shannon Lucid, Rhea Seddon, Richard Searfoss; 

Standing (L-R): John Blaha, William McArthur, Martin Fettman

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-58), launched October 18, 1993, used for the first time the Portable In-Flight Landing Operations Trainer (PILOT) simulation software.  Its crew consisted of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Richard Searfoss, Rhea Seddon, William McArthur, David Wolf, Shannon Lucid and Martin Fettman.

PILOT was tested to be used as a tool to help the mission commander and shuttle pilot maintain proficiency for approach and landing. 

During the mission, Rhea Seddon sent a message to her husband astronaut Robert Gibson when she surpassed his total time of almost 633 hours.  Gibson teased that he had more launches than she did at the time.

Discovery, 100th Space Shuttle mission, launched 2000

Front row (L-R): Melroy, Duffy; 

Back row (L-R): Chiao, Lopez-Alegria, McArthur, Wisoff, Wakata

Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off October 11, 2000 on the 100th mission (STS-92) of the space shuttle program.  Seven astronauts docked with the International Space Station for seven days and performed 4 EVAs.

Discovery's crew consisted of Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pamela Melroy (remember her? She was the one who had Alan Parsons Project's Prime Time as her wake up call!), Mission Specialist 1 Koichi Wakata (remember him?  He would be the first Japanese commander of the ISS!), Mission Specialist 2 William McArthur, Mission Specialist 3 Peter Wisoff, Mission Specialist 4 Michael Lopez-Alegria (remember him? He's the first Spanish-born astronaut in space!), and Mission Specialist 5 Leroy Chiao (remember him?  He's the one who saw UFO lights during an EVA!).

Atlantis (STS-74) launched to rendezvous with Mir 1995

Front row: Pilot James D. Halsell, Commander Kenneth D. Cameron

Back row: Mission Specialist 3 William S. McArthur, Jr.; Mission Specialist 2 Jerry L. Ross; Mission Specialist 1 Chris A. Hadfield (Canadian Space Agency)

November 12, 1995, the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-74) blasted off for its second rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir.  It was the fourth mission of NASA's Space Shuttle and Russia's Mir joint program.  Atlantis would make a total of seven trips to the space station.

Its crew consisted of James Halsell, Kenneth Cameron, William McArthur, Jerry Ross, Chris Hadfield (Canadian Space Agency).

She had been scheduled to blast off on Nov 11 but bad weather caused the launch to abort.  Atlantis returned to Earth eight days later.