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| Rich Clifford on the flight deck of the Space Shuttle Endeavor |
One of just 330 people selected for Nasa's astronaut corps since America's human space programme began more than half a century ago, his place in history was already noteworthy. Yet when he rocketed into orbit that night in March 1996, he and a handful of Nasa officials were guarding a secret that made his heroism all the more remarkable.
He had Parkinson's Disease.
Only now, 17 years after diagnosis, is he going public, revealing how Nasa helped him to keep the news confidential, encouraged him to keep reaching for the stars despite the disease's onset and even assigned him to a grueling spacewalk 160 miles above the planet while traveling at 17,500mph.
His decision to finally bring his secret into the open was driven by the realization that his story can educate others about the disease and inspire fellow Parkinson's patients to think big.
"I want to let them know that it's not the end of your life," said Mr Clifford, 59. "It's a relief that I can get out there and talk about it and know the effects of it on other people with the disease... It feels good."
He was a lieutenant colonel in the US Army and experimental test pilot when he joined Nasa in 1987 as a space shuttle engineer. Three years later, he joined the astronaut corps and in 1992 flew his first shuttle flight aboard Discovery. In 1994, he flew again on Endeavor.
He had just undergone his annual medical examination in October 1994 when he asked a Nasa doctor about his right arm, which no longer swung when he walked and which he thought he must have injured during a racquetball game. Having assumed that it was a minor problem with a quick fix, he was alarmed to be whisked off to see a neurologist. "Within five minutes, he told me it was Parkinson's," he reveals.
Worries about his career, his flying, his family and his future flashed before him. "It seemed impossible. I didn't want to believe it and for a while I refused to believe it," he recalls.
There followed a series of tests and examinations to confirm the diagnosis and assess Mr Clifford's physical and mental capabilities. He was placed on Eldepryl, a drug to help slow the progression of the disease. Then flight surgeons and senior managers at Nasa - which spends upwards of $10 million on each astronaut's training - took an extraordinary decision.
"I asked Nasa if I could fly again on the shuttle and they said 'Sure'. We talked about it and the flight surgeons came up with a plan that they would assign me to a flight and watch me and they would let a manager know if they felt I couldn't do it," he explains.
A back-up astronaut was assigned to train with him for the six-hour spacewalk he was due to make on mission STS-76, though doctors agreed that unless his condition deteriorated in some way prior to blast-off, Mr Clifford would retain that role too. He told his close family, and Atlantis's commander, Kevin Chilton. A handful of senior managers were also informed.
"They never told me to keep it quiet but I knew if I told the world I had Parkinson's that would put Nasa in a bad place. It would make press conferences all about me, it would raise questions."
How could you let someone with Parkinson's fly in space?' "I am forever appreciative for the opportunity these people afforded me. They took the high road instead of making the easy decision, which would have been to ground me permanently."
Parkinson's is a progressive, degenerative disorder caused by the loss of cells in the brain that produce dopamine, which helps the brain to control movement. Primary symptoms are tremors, rigidity; slowness of movement and impaired co-ordination. But each case is different and apart from his arm issue, and a barely perceptible impairment in one hand, he headed into space in 1996 confident in his abilities but wary of "fouling up on live TV".
The spacewalk, a demanding excursion to perform maintenance outside the Mir space station, clad in a bulky spacesuit and heavy gloves, brought the only possible hint of trouble, though he could not be sure whether it was due to Parkinson's or just exertion. "My hand did get tired; in fact I started shaking a little bit, a small tremor, but it didn't hinder my work," he revealed.
His neurologist Dr Joseph Jankovic, director of the Parkinson's Disease Center and Movement Disorders Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, said: "Being an astronaut in space is a very stressful activity and when patients with Parkinson's disease are under stress, for many the symptoms may be exacerbated.
"That's where his story is so important and so inspiring. It gives hope to other patients that they can accomplish great things."
As part of Mr Clifford's decision to open up his secret, he agreed to take a speaking role with the National Parkinson Foundation in the US, sharing his experience and his message of hope publicly. He is also preparing to become the focus of a documentary, The Astronaut's Secret, produced by Dr Jankovic's son Zach, a film producer.
Crewmate Rick Searfoss, who flew with him on Atlantis, said: "Rich was the most efficient on-orbit worker of any crew member I flew with. He was just on point, on track, slow and steady.
"I had no clue about his diagnosis at the time, but I've known for a couple of years now. In retrospect I would say perhaps one of the reasons he was so methodical in his economy of actions, was that he had been diagnosed and didn't want to telegraph to people that there were any issues."
He added: "There are a lot of reasons to be pessimistic in the world right now but also some incredible reasons to be optimistic and one is that people with what years ago would have been debilitating handicaps can do more. Great things can still happen and Rich's story is one of them."
Nasa remains coy about its part in his accomplishment. But the space agency's Director of Flight Operations, Janet Kavandi, said: "Rich did a great service to Nasa, his country and the cause of space exploration during his career here."
from The London Telegraph
8:03PM GMT 12 Nov 2011
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