On Wednesday, NASA Johnson Space Center announced the passing of astronaut Michael “Rich” Clifford. He was 69.
The former astronaut flew three space shuttle missions in seven years, spending a total of 665 hours in space.
Clifford was also featured in the documentary “The Astronaut’s Secret,” which dives into the trials and tribulations he faced as an astronaut secretly battling Parkinson’s and his journey to go public with the disease.
KPRC 2 spoke with the filmmaker before the documentary was released in 2014.
“He had Parkinson’s while he was flying his final mission in space. I said, ‘That’s incredible and nobody knew about this,’” filmmaker Zach Jankovic said.
According to Clifford’s NASA biography, he graduated from West Point in 1974 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the US Army.
He was then assigned to the Johnson Space Center in 1987, selected as an astronaut in 1990, and was a veteran of three space flights.
Clifford’s experience included a 6-hour spacewalk.
In a tweet, the Johnson Space Center also said its thoughts are with Clifford’s family.