A NASA astronaut and ISU graduate will bring stories of his experiences working together with Russian cosmonauts back to his alma mater.

Clayton Anderson, a NASA mission specialist, will present a speech titled “The International Flavor of the Space Station,” at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Brunnier Art Museum.

Anderson’s return to Iowa State was due in large part to the efforts of foreign languages lecturer Olga Mesropova, who met several Russian language instructors employed by NASA while attending a conference at Duke University.

Work was being done to chip away at the Russian/English language barrier to foster cooperation between agencies of the two countries, Mesropova said.

She asked if one of their students could speak at Iowa State.

“Initially, I spoke to the instructors and they recommended Anderson because he was a current student of theirs,” Mesropova said.

Mesropova said she felt Anderson was looking forward to his return.

“I think he’s excited to come back,” she said. “This is his second trip to ISU.”

Currently, Anderson, who has been a student of the Russian language for about four years, works as head of the Enhanced Caution and Warning System development effort. He also works with Russian cosmonauts as part of the capsule communicator team. Mesropova said he has been able to communicate with the cosmonauts aboard the space station, as well as with their families on the ground.

Mesropova said Anderson’s visit should prove beneficial to those in attendance.

“I think it’ll be very educational for students, for faculty and, really, for the whole community,” she said. “I think he’ll be able to talk about aspects of the space station that most people never really think about, as far as how the different cultures work together.”

Anderson, a native of Nebraska, received a masters degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State in 1983. That same year, he began his career with NASA, signing onto the Mission Planning and Analysis Division at the Johnson Space Center. His duties included calculating trajectory designs, which were used in early space shuttle and space station missions.

He went on to become flight design manager of the Mission Operations Directorate, where he led the trajectory design team for the Galileo mission in 1988. Several missions followed before he was promoted to chief of the flight design branch in 1993.

In 1998, he was selected by NASA for astronaut training. He continues to work as part of the ground crew until he is assigned to be part of a flight team.