Astronaut to speak at graduation

NASA astronaut and university alumnus Richard Arnold will be the keynote speaker at this winter's university commencement, members of the selection committee said last night.

After earning a master's degree from this university in 1992, Arnold taught middle and high school science and mathematics around the world before being selected as a NASA mission specialist in 2004. He traveled into space as a part of a 2009 space shuttle mission aboard Discovery, during which NASA says he logged 5.3 million miles of travel.

"He was our first choice," said Evan McQuirns, one of two student members of the selection committee. "This guy is worldly and outer-worldly. ... He's an astronaut."

Raised in Bowie, Arnold earned a bachelor's degree from Frostburg State University in western Maryland. After getting a graduate degree in marine, estuarine and environmental science from this university, Arnold spent a decade teaching science and mathematics at international schools in Morocco, just before 2003's STS-107 mission, in which the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere. The accident killed all seven crew members — including alumnus Willie McCool.

"I remember watching it on the news with my wife live," Arnold said in a NASA interview. "We looked at each other and we said, ‘You know, this is something that needs to be done,' and we'll learn from the mistakes. We'll take those lessons and do the best we can to make sure it doesn't happen again, but that's no reason to quit trying."

Arnold was selected for the space program a year later, and in 2007 participated in a 10-day mission at the Aquarius underwater ocean laboratory off the Florida coast, conducting experiments in what NASA called "a simulated lunar outpost" to prepare for future missions to the moon and Mars.

He finally earned his NASA astronaut wings for March 2009's STS-119 mission: He and six others traveled to the International Space Station carrying solar panels and structural pieces of the station — and a Terps T-shirt.

Arnold last spoke on the campus in March 2010, when he gave a talk to the education college that selection committee members said received rave reviews.

"We're really excited about him," said McQuirns, a senior French studies and history major. "When you have someone with these great experiences who also happens to be a great speaker, why not bring him on board?"

In addition to Arnold and McCool, this university has sent two other alumni into space — Paul Richards received a master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1991 and was a part of a 2001 mission to the International Space Station, and Judith Resnik received a Ph.D. in electrical engineering in 1977 before dying in the 1986 Challenger disaster.

Jeanette Epps, a recent graduate from astronaut training, received master's and doctorate degrees in 1994 and 2000, respectively. She has not yet gone into space.

rich.abdill@umdbk.com