Astronaut Richard
"Ricky" Arnold is
the fourth Maryland
alumnus to travel
in space. IMAGES COURTESY OF NASA
NASA MISSION SPECIALIST
Richard Arnold II
M.S. '92 has just about
done it all on this Earth. An
accomplished teacher, scientist,
world traveler and aquanaut,
he's now seeking new challenges
in space.
Arnold was a crew member on
space shuttle Discovery's 14-day mission
to the International Space Station
in March.
"I was very fortunate to be a part of the
international team that is assembling this
amazing complex in space," says Arnold,
who completed three space walks to help
install solar panels and a truss element at
the space station. "There is immense satisfaction
to have played a small part in that.
When you are on the International Space
Station and have a few minutes to look out the
window, you quickly realize that it is just a toehold
on the edge of a limitless frontier."
Arnold enjoys a light—or reduced gravity—moment between space walks.
Arnold grew up in Bowie, Md., and credits marine
explorer Jacques Cousteau with sparking his interest in science.
Arnold became a middle school science teacher, then went
on to earn a master's degree through Maryland's marine estuarine
environmental sciences program on the Eastern Shore.
"It was the sense of purpose at the university, particularly at the
Horn Point Environmental Lab, that instilled in me a desire to be a part of
a strong team brought together to do complicated things," Arnold says.
Following graduation, Arnold taught math and science
in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Romania. In 2004,
he became an astronaut and an aquanaut working on
NASA's Extreme Environment Mission Objectives project, or
NEEMO, at the world's only undersea laboratory.
"Ricky was a fun, dedicated and interesting student who
dove into the Chesapeake Bay both literally and intellectually,"
says Professor Bill Dennison, Arnold's graduate adviser. "I
am not surprised that he has been selected to be one of the few individuals
to conduct missions to space."
While on the STS-119 mission aboard Discovery, Arnold didn't forget
his Maryland pride.
"We were tracking the Terps' progress in the NCAAs
as best we could while in orbit," says Arnold, who orbited
Earth in a Maryland T-shirt and took along a small banner from
the alumni association as well. -DO
