Michael Richard Clifford
Michael Richard Clifford was a United States Army aviator, test pilot, and NASA astronaut who flew three Space Shuttle missions. His career is especially notable because he completed his final mission, STS-76, while living with Parkinson's disease, a diagnosis he kept private during flight operations.
- Born
- October 13, 1952
- Died
- December 28, 2021
- Birthplace
- San Bernardino, California,United States
Flights
3
Spacewalks
1
EVA time
6 hours, 2 minutes
In space
27 days, 18 hours, 24 minutes
Bio
Clifford graduated from the United States Military Academy and later earned an aerospace engineering master's degree from Georgia Tech. Before NASA, he built a deep Army aviation record as a master aviator, test pilot, and rotary-wing expert with thousands of flight hours.
His first two shuttle missions, STS-53 and STS-59, covered classified national-security operations and Earth-observation radar science. His final mission, STS-76, docked with Mir and included a with Linda Godwin outside the Russian station complex.
After NASA, Clifford became an advocate for Parkinson's awareness and remained one of the clearest examples of an astronaut career shaped by both technical excellence and private medical difficulty.