Michael Philip Anderson was a United States Air Force officer and a NASA astronaut who served as a mission specialist and payload commander. He first flew into space aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on mission STS-89, where he docked with the Mir space station. Anderson's second and final mission was STS-107 aboard Space Shuttle Columbia, which served as a dedicated science and research mission. He and his six fellow crew members died when Columbia disintegrated during its reentry into the Earth's atmosphere.