Steven R. Swanson, a former student of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, recently returned to Earth after six months aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Swanson was the commander of Expedition 40, which conducted about 170 experiments.
"We did lots of science," Swanson said. "We actually set the record for number of hours of science in a week."
Swanson, who received his Ph.D. in computer science, boarded the ISS in March, making his third trip to the space station. He became the ISS commander in May.
Swanson, along with Russian cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev landed on the Kazakhstan steppe after undocking from the ISS. Swanson will now enter a lengthy rehabilitation program to regain his strength.
Before joining NASA, Swanson worked as a software engineer for GTE in Phoenix, Arizona. He has a bachelor's degree in engineering physics from the University of Colorado and a master's degree of applied science in computer systems from Florida Atlantic University.
In 2010 he was honored with the department's Distinguished Former Student Award and is currently a member of the CSE Advisory Council.