Michael R . Clifford Michael Richard Uram " Rich " Clifford ( born October 13 , 1952 ) , is a former United States Army officer and NASA astronaut . Clifford is considered a Master Army Aviator and has logged over 3 , 400 hours flying in a wide variety of fixed and rotary winged aircraft . Clifford retired from the U . S . Army at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel . He has logged over 12 hours of spacewalk time over three Space Shuttle missions . He is also one of the first people to conduct a spacewalk while docked to an orbiting space station . The spacewalk was conducted during STS - 76 , while docked at the Russian space station Mir . Personal data . Born October 13 , 1952 in San Bernardino , California , but considers Ogden , Utah , to be his hometown . He was a First Class Scout in the Boy Scouts of America . Married to the former Nancy Elizabeth Brunson of Darlington , South Carolina . They have two sons : Richard Benjamin Clifford and Brandon Brunson Clifford . He enjoys flying , golf , tennis , water and snow skiing , baseball , and coaching youth sports . His parents , Gordon and Lenore Clifford , reside in Ogden . Her parents , R . Ben and Mary Lee Brunson , reside in Darlington . Clifford was diagnosed with Parkinson ' s Disease in 1994 . A documentary detailing his struggle with the disease was released in late 2011 . Education . Graduated from Ben Lomond High School , Ogden , Utah in 1970 ; received a Bachelor of science degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point , New York in 1974 , and a Master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1982 . Major achievements . Organizations . Member of the Association of Space Explorers , American Helicopter Society , Army Aviation Association , and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association . Honors . Recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal , the Legion of Merit , the Defense Meritorious Service Medal , the Army Commendation Medal , the National Intelligence Achievement Medal and NASA Space Flight Medal . Career . Clifford graduated from West Point in June 1974 and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the U . S . Army . He served a tour with the 10th Cavalry in Fort Carson , Colorado . He then entered the U . S . Army Aviation School in 1976 . He was the top graduate of his flight class and was designated an Army Aviator in October 1976 . He was subsequently assigned for three years as a service platoon commander with the Attack Troop , 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Nuremberg , West Germany . After completing a master of science degree at Georgia Tech in 1982 , he was assigned to the Department of Mechanics at West Point as an instructor and assistant professor . In December 1986 he graduated from the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School and was designated an Experimental Test Pilot . In December 1995 , Clifford retired from the Army . NASA experience . As a military officer , Clifford was assigned to the Johnson Space Center in July 1987 . As a Space Shuttle Vehicle Integration engineer , his duties involved engineering liaison for launch and landing operations of the Space Shuttle Program . He was involved in design certification and integration of the Shuttle Crew Escape System , and was an executive board member of the Solid Rocket Booster Postflight Assessment Team . Selected as an astronaut by NASA in July 1990 , Clifford has served in a variety of technical assignments . From April to August 1991 , Clifford was assigned to the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch where he participated in the design , development , and evaluation of Shuttle payloads and crew equipment having extravehicular activity ( EVA ) interfaces . From May 1994 to September 1995 he served as lead for space station vehicle / assembly issues . A veteran of three space flights , Clifford flew as a mission specialist on STS - 53 in 1992 , STS - 59 in 1994 , and STS - 76 in 1996 . He has logged 665 hours in space , including a 6 - hour spacewalk . Clifford left NASA in January 1997 to accept the position of Space Station Flight Operations Manager for Boeing ' s Defense and Space Group . Spaceflight experience . Clifford first flew on the crew of STS - 53 which launched from the Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on December 2 , 1992 , aboard the Space Shuttle " Discovery " . The mission carried a Department of Defense payload and a variety of secondary payloads . Clifford was responsible for operating a number of experiments which included the Fluid Acquisition and Resupply Experiment ( FARE ) and the Battlefield Laser Acquisition Sensor Test ( BLAST ) . FARE was a microgravity fluid transfer experiment designed to evaluate improved spacecraft propellant tanks . BLAST was a hand - held laser energy detector designed to detect and interpret a data message in a low - power Earth - based laser . After completing 115 orbits of the Earth , STS - 53 landed at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on December 9 , 1992 . He next served aboard Space Shuttle " Endeavour " on the STS - 59 Space Radar Laboratory ( SRL ) mission which launched April 9 , 1994 . SRL consisted of three large radars , SIR - C / X - SAR ( Shuttle Imaging Radar C / X - Band Synthetic Aperture Radar ) , and a carbon monoxide sensor that were used to enhance studies of the Earth ' s surface and atmosphere . The imaging radars operated in three frequencies and four polarizations . This multispectral capability of the radars provided information about the Earth ' s surface over a wide range of scales not discernible with previous single - frequency experiments . The carbon monoxide sensor ( MAPS ) used gas filter radiometry to measure the global distribution of CO in the troposphere . Real time crew observations of surface phenomena and climatic conditions augmented with over 14 , 000 photographs aided investigators in interpretation and calibration of the data . The mission concluded on April 20 , 1994 , with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base after orbiting the Earth 183 times in 269 hours . Clifford next served on STS - 76 , the third docking mission to the Russian space station Mir , which launched on March 22 , 1996 with a crew of six aboard Space Shuttle " Atlantis " . Following rendezvous and docking with Mir , the transfer of a NASA Astronaut to Mir for a five month stay was accomplished to begin a continuous presence of U . S . astronauts aboard Mir for the next two - year period . The crew also transferred 4 , 800 pounds of science and mission hardware , food , water and air to Mir and returned over 1 , 100 pounds of U . S . and ESA science and Russian hardware . Clifford performed a 6 - hour spacewalk , the first while docked to an orbiting space station , to mount experiment packages on the Mir docking module to detect and assess debris and contamination in a space station environment . The experiments will be retrieved by a future shuttle mission . This mission was also the first flight of Kidsat , an electronic camera controlled by classroom students via a Ku - band link between JSC Mission Control and the Shuttle , which uses digitized photography from the Shuttle for science and education purposes . Following 145 orbits of the Earth , " Atlantis " landed with a crew of five at Edwards Air Force Base in California on March 31 , 1996 . He was diagnosed with Parkinson ' s disease in 1994 , but only his commander , Kevin Chilton , knew about it . After the STS - 76 mission Clifford decided that he shouldn ' t fly , because he didn ’ t know how fast it was going to progress .