Astronaut to Visit Athens Academy
On Tuesday, February 16, NASA Astronaut Tom Marshburn will visit Athens Academy to share his experiences on the International Space Station (ISS) last summer. After lunch with a small group of students and faculty, Dr. Marshburn will conduct sessions for the Middle and Upper Schools.
Emergency physician Thomas Marshburn was selected by NASA in November 1994 to serve as a flight surgeon for NASA personnel deployed to the Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. After ten years of medical work of various types with NASA, Dr. Marshburn was selected to train for a space mission. In February 2006, he completed Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training, and was qualified for various technical assignments within the Astronaut Office and future flight assignment as a mission specialist.
In July 2009, Dr. Marshburn participated in his first spaceflight onboard the Shuttle Endeavour. He logged over 376 hours in space, and 18 hours and 59 minutes of Extravehicular Activities (EVA) in three spacewalks. While in space, Dr. Marshburn and the rest of the crew completed the construction of the KIBO Japanese Experiment Module, installed scientific experiments on its Exposed Facility, and delivered critical spare parts and replacement batteries to the orbital complex, in addition to transferring 24,638 pounds of hardware and 1,225 pounds of water to the station. While the Endeavour was docked to the station, the mission featured a record 13 astronauts working aboard the Station representing all five ISS partners -- NASA, the Russian Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency, the European Space Agency, and the Japanese Space Agency. The mission was accomplished in 248 orbits of the Earth, traveling 6,547,853 million miles in 15 days, 16 hours, 44 minutes and 58 seconds.
Dr. Marshburn and his wife, Ann, have one child. He is also the uncle of Athens Academy students Meagan (11th grade) and Bobby (9th grade) Marshburn and alumna Rebecca '08.
