Brent Ward Jett

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Brent Jett
Brent Jett
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on March 31, 1992
(14th NASA Group)
Calls: 4 space flights
Start of the
first space flight: 		January 11, 1996
Landing of the
last space flight: 		September 21, 2006
Time in space: 41d 18h ​​2min
retired on February 2013
Space flights

Brent Ward Jett, Jr. (born October 5, 1958 in Pontiac , Michigan , USA ) is a retired American astronaut .

Jett was born in Pontiac, Michigan, northwest of Detroit , but grew up in Fort Lauderdale , Florida . His parents still live there today. In 1976 he went from Northeast High School in Oakland Park from (Florida) and started at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis ( Maryland study). He completed his aerospace studies at the top of his year with a bachelor's degree in May 1981.

Military career

After that, Jett joined the US Navy and was trained as a naval pilot. This was followed by training on the F-14 "Tomcat" on Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia , before he was assigned to Kampfgeschwader 74 (Navy designation VF-74). On board the aircraft carrier "USS Saratoga" , the "Be-Devilers", as the VF-74 is called, set out for the Mediterranean in early April 1984. After six months, the "USS Saratoga" returned at the end of October. Jett then attended the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School in Miramar ( California ) and was trained as a tactical officer. This course has been known as "TOPGUN" since the film of the same name with Tom Cruise , although its official name is Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor (sometimes the school that has since moved to Nevada is incorrectly referred to as TOPGUN).

At the end of August 1985 Jett began his second voyage with the "USS Saratoga". The first destination was the Mediterranean again before the mission in the Indian Ocean was continued. The “USS Saratoga” came into the public eye in October when Palestinian terrorists hijacked the Italian cruise ship “ Achille Lauro ”. When they were assured safe conduct, the terrorists fled with an Egyptian transport plane. On the orders of US President Ronald Reagan , the “Saratoga” then went into action. Four fighter jets (two "Tomcats" represented the VF-74), guided by an air surveillance aircraft, intercepted the machine and forced it to land at the NATO base in Sigonella in Sicily, where the Italian police arrested the terrorists. The "Be-Devilers" then flew two missions against Libya : in March 1986 the "USS Saratoga" was part of "Operation Prairie Fire" and a month later she was involved in " Operation El Dorado Canyon ". In mid-April 1986, the aircraft carrier returned to its home port in Virginia.

Jett then took part in a test pilot training program involving the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California and the United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS). From July 1986 Jett initially only studied at the NPS. After 15 months, he also took part in a test pilot seminar at the USNTPS, which is located in Maryland on Naval Air Station Patuxent River. So he was forced to constantly commute back and forth between the east and west coasts of the USA. In June 1989 the NPS awarded him a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering. And the following year he also passed the USNTPS course as an "Excellent Graduate". He then moved to the Naval Air Test Center on the Patuxent River base. As the test pilot in charge, he worked with the aircraft types F-14 “Tomcat”, A-7 “Corsair II” and T-45 “Goshawk” . In September 1991 he returned to his old squadron, the "Be-Devilers". He headed the VF-74 until he left in the summer of 1992.

Astronaut activity

Jett has been fascinated by aviation since he was a child. As a teenager, he wanted to join the Navy. Once there, the aircraft carriers appealed to him. He had become a test pilot when he first thought of becoming an astronaut. Until then, this job had seemed so inaccessible to him that he didn't even think of the possibility. How surprised he must have been that his first application was immediately successful.

Brent Jett was introduced as one of four candidate pilots with NASA's 14th Astronaut Group in late March 1992. From a total of 2054 applicants who met the formal selection criteria, 87 finalists emerged. They were invited to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston , Texas in the fall of 1991 for tests, discussions and medical examinations.

The 24-person group, consisting of four pilots and twenty mission specialists (including five from abroad), began their one-year basic training in August 1992. Jett then worked in the Operations and Development Branch of the astronauts office.

In December 1994 Jett was nominated as a pilot for his first space flight. STS-72 took place in January 1996. In addition to capturing the Space Flyer Unit platform launched from Japan the year before, two space exits were on the program. Assembly techniques were simulated in order to gain experience for the future international space station . Just two weeks after the Endeavor returned , Jett was called for his next mission.

Exactly one year after his maiden flight, Jett set off with the Atlantis for the Russian space station Mir . As a pilot, he assisted Commander Mike Baker in navigating the orbiter. During the five-day coupling, not only three tons of equipment were exchanged between the two spacecraft, but also two US crew members: John Blaha , who had lived and worked on board the Mir since September 1996, returned to Earth with the shuttle, while Jerry Linenger stayed on the station as a new guest.

After two years of intensive training, NASA sent Brent Jett to the “Star City” in Moscow. Between June 1997 and February 1998 he worked as a liaison officer for the American space agency in Russia.

At the beginning of August 1998, Jett received its first command with the STS-97 . The Endeavor took off for the International Space Station in December 2000. The five-person crew brought a grid structure, equipped with solar panels for power generation and radiators for cooling, to the station. After docking, the element was removed from the orbiter's cargo bay and connected to the space station with three exits. Only then were the hatches opened and the ISS crew could greet the Endeavor crew. The shuttle started returning just one day later.

Until Brent Jett was named for his fourth flight in February 2002, he was head of the JSC's Advance Vehicles Branch.

In September 2006, Jett undertook its fourth mission with the STS-115 . The crew of the Atlantis assembled the 16 ton heavy element P3 / P4 on the space station in six days . The ISS thus received the second of four solar modules. The space shuttle returned after a total of twelve days.

Brent retired from the Navy in 2007 and from NASA in February 2013. He is married and has no children.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ NASA astronaut Brent Jett Leaves Agency. In: NASA Press Release J13-003. NASA, February 4, 2013, accessed February 5, 2013 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Brent W. Jett, Jr.  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files
personal data
SURNAME Jett, Brent Ward
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Jett, Brent Ward Junior (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH 5th October 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Pontiac , Michigan