Michael R. Clifford

Michael Richard Uram "Rich" Clifford (October 13, 1952 – December 28, 2021) was an American Army officer and NASA astronaut. Clifford was born at an air force base in San Bernardino County, California. He was raised in Ogden, Utah.

Clifford was seen as a Master Army Aviator. Clifford retired from the U.S. Army at the rank of lieutenant colonel.

Clifford had over 12 hours of spacewalk time over three Space Shuttle missions. He was also one of the first people to do a spacewalk while docked to an orbiting space station. The spacewalk was conducted during STS-76, while docked at the Russian space station Mir. He did this, while hiding the fact that he had Parkinson's disease.

Clifford was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1994. He died from problems caused by the disease on December 28, 2021 at the age of 69.

Michael R. Clifford Media

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  STS-59 crew insignia* * The STS-59 insignia is dominated by Earth, reflecting the focus of the first Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-1) mission upon our planet's surface and atmosphere. The golden symbol of the astronaut corps emblem sweeps over Earth's surface from the Space Shuttle Endeavour, representing the operation of the SIR-C/Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-SAR) and the Measurement of Air Pollution from Space (MAPS) sensors.

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  STS-76 Mission Insignia *The STS-76 crew patch depicts the Space Shuttle Atlantis and Russia's Mir Space Station as the space ships prepare for a rendezvous and docking. The Spirit of 76, an era of new beginnings, is represented by the Space Shuttle rising through the circle of 13 stars in the Betsy Ross flag.

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  Clifford setting up the experiment equipment for BLAST aboard Discovery during STS-53.

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  Clifford working at a restraint bar on the Mir Docking Module during his spacewalk on March 27, 1996 during STS-76.

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  Clifford after the spacewalk in STS-76, getting out of his Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) suit.