William S. McArthur

Army career and education

William S. McArthur grew up in Red Springs, North Carolina, where he reached the rank of Life Scout in the Boy Scouts. He earned a Bachelor of Science in applied science and engineering from the U.S. Military Academy in 1973 and became a U.S. Army officer. After serving with the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, he completed U.S. Army Aviation School. Following assignments in Korea and Georgia, he received a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 1983.

NASA career

William S. McArthur became an experimental test pilot after attending the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1987. He then worked as a flight test engineer at NASA and was chosen as an astronaut candidate in 1990. His first trip to space came in 1993 on STS-58, followed by STS-74 in 1995 and STS-92 in 2000. A Master Army Aviator, McArthur has spent more than 9,000 hours flying 41 different types of aircraft and spacecraft.

His honors include the Army Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Defense Meritorious Service Medal with Oak leaf cluster, the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and the NASA Space Flight Medal. He left the U.S. Army in 2001. McArthur flew to the International Space Station on Soyuz TMA-7 as part of Expedition 12, living there from October 3, 2005, to April 8, 2006. In April 2006, he and Expedition 13 flight officer Jeffrey Williams tried a new way to prepare for spacewalks by spending the night in the Quest airlock, where the pressure was lowered from 14.7 psi to 10.2 psi.

The goal was to cut down the usual pre-spacewalk routine of breathing pure oxygen. An error tone ended the test after four hours, but it was still called a success. McArthur served as Director of Safety and Mission Assurance at the Johnson Space Center until retiring in June 2017.

Did You Know?

• McArthur achieved the rank of Life Scout, the second highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America.
• McArthur was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Strathclyde in May 2009 for his work in space science and engineering.
• He retired from the U.S. Army in 2001 and from NASA in June 2017.