NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn shares his 337-day space experience with a private company.
Marshburn has flown to the International Space Station (ISS) three times: in 2009, 2012-2013 and 2021-2022. Each time, he flew to and from the ISS in a different vehicle, orbiting aboard a NASA spacecraft, the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, and the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft.
The former flight surgeon announced his retirement from NASA on Thursday (December 1). Marshburn moves to Sierra Space; he will be chief medical officer of the Center for Manned Space Flight and the Astronaut Training Academy as the company continues to design the NASA-funded space station.
Related: International Space Station: photo tour
Sierra Space is working to accommodate its Dream Chaser spacecraft for NASA cargo missions to the ISS as well as military cargo flights. In the coming years, the spacecraft will be used for flights by private astronauts, including to a private space station called Orbital Reef, Sierra Space said. (Orbital Reef is one of several proposed private facilities co-supported by $415 million in NASA funding announced in December 2021. NASA hopes one or more of these private stations will eventually replace the ISS, which the agency is looking to use until at least 2030.)
“I look forward to creating and developing the rules, regulations and training that will ensure that Sierra Space is properly equipped for future astronaut corps with the tools to succeed,” Marshburn said in a statement.
Marshburn worked for NASA for 28 years, worked as a flight surgeon for ten years, and astronaut for 18 years. His medical spaceflight experience includes supporting NASA personnel working at the Russian training center in Star City near Moscow, serving as the co-chair of medical operations visiting space shuttles on the Russian space station Mir, and directing medical operations on the ISS.
His departure to the private sector is becoming more and more typical of NASA astronauts these days, with recent examples also being Peggy Whitson and Michael Lopez-Alegria at Axiom Space. Houston-based Axiom is flying private missions to the ISS and is working on building its own space station with NASA support over the next decade.
Related: NASA seeks private outposts to build on International Space Station legacy
NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn during a spacewalk to clean up an ammonia leak on May 11, 2013. (Image credit: NASA)
Marshburn’s other accomplishments include emergency repairs to a leaking ISS ammonia pump during a spacewalk in 2013, days before landing with the Soyuz crew. Expedition 34/35’s crew, which included Canadians Chris Hadfield and Marshburn, were also among the most scientifically productive of the era, according to Canadian Space Agency officials who spoke to Space.com at the time.
Marshburn’s other missions included the shuttle flight STS-127 in 2009, whose main mission was to complete the construction of the Japanese Kibo module on the ISS, and Crew-3 SpaceX from November 2021 to May 2022. On Crew-3, Marshburn’s last mission, he piloted the Crew Dragon and worked with the team that performed 250 experiments aboard the ISS, according to NASA statistics. (will open in a new tab).
Elizabeth Howell is co-author of Why Am I Taller? (will open in a new tab)? (ECW Press, 2022; with Canadian astronaut Dave Williams), space medicine book. Follow her on Twitter @howellspace. (will open in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (will open in a new tab) or facebook (will open in a new tab).