Sarafin of Houston Receives Top Clarkson University Award for Young Alumni

Related Media

Left to right: Clarkson President Tony Collins, Sarafin, and Associate Vice President for Alumni Relations Steve Newkofsky.

POTSDAM, NY (07/24/2014)(readMedia)-- Michael Sarafin of Houston, Texas, a NASA flight director, has received the Woodstock Award from his alma mater, Clarkson University.

Given each year during Reunion Weekend, the Woodstock Award honors young alumni who have demonstrated outstanding loyalty and service to Clarkson and the Alumni Association and who have used their Clarkson experience to make a notable contribution to their careers.

Sarafin received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical and aeronautical engineering from Clarkson in 1994. While at Clarkson, Sarafin was active in both the rugby and archery club. He was also a member of the Aeronautics and Astronomy Society.

Sarafin joined the ranks at NASA in 1994, as a space shuttle software engineer, and continues to play a key role within the organization today. He is one of 83 individuals who have led human spaceflight operations as a NASA flight director. In that role, he has overall responsibility for safety and success of the mission. He represents the United States government and its human spaceflight program to partners around the globe while overseeing all aspects of operations from within Mission Control, located in Houston, Texas.

His experience to date includes 43 Space Shuttle missions and 20International Space Station Expeditions of American, Canadian, European, Japanese and Russian astronauts and cosmonauts. In 2010, Sarafin sent a green and gold Clarkson flag to space, on board the space shuttle Atlantis during its final trip then returned it in person to Clarkson University.

Sarafin is presently tasked as a NASA flight director for two different programs. Since 2008, he has supported the International Space Station (ISS) as an ISS Flight Director. In that role, he oversees daily operations of the 16 partner nations that comprise the ISS team and the astronauts and cosmonauts flying onboard.

He is also leading the highly anticipated flight of NASA's Orion capsule, scheduled to fly this fall. The Orion program began in 2005, after national policy allowed NASA again to pursue exploration of deep space. As the first Orion Flight Director, he is enabling humans to explore deep space by testing an unmanned version of the spacecraft. Exploration Flight Test one will challenge Orion's ability to survive the harsh environment of space and gather data essential to the safe return of astronauts on future deep space missions.

Sarafin makes frequent visits to Clarkson to encourage students to pursue engineering. He was in the first class to graduate from the aeronautical program because it was a new program and he is a strong believer that the engineering program established the foundation for everything he needed to learn in his career. He has also been a guest speaker at an AIAA Regional competition hosted at Clarkson.

Originally from Herkimer, N.Y., Sarafin currently resides in Houston, Texas, with his wife, Angela.

Clarkson University launches leaders into the global economy. One in five alumni already leads as a CEO, VP or equivalent senior executive of a company. Located just outside the Adirondack Park in Potsdam, N.Y., Clarkson is a nationally recognized research university for undergraduates with select graduate programs in signature areas of academic excellence directed toward the world's pressing issues. Through 50 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, arts, sciences and health sciences, the entire learning-living community spans boundaries across disciplines, nations and cultures to build powers of observation, challenge the status quo, and connect discovery and engineering innovation with enterprise.