Michael Phillip Anderson (December 25, 1959 – February 1, 2003) was a United States Air Force officer and NASA astronaut, who was killed in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster when the craft disintegrated after reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. Anderson was born in Plattsburgh, New York}}[citation needed], into an Air Force family and grew up as a military aspirant. He attended high school in Cheney, Washington, while his father was stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base}}[citation needed], west of Spokane.