Jeffrey N. Williams

Jeffrey N. Williams

Country:	United States United States
Organization:	NASA
selected on	May 1, 1996 (16th NASA Group)
Calls:	4 space flights
Start of the first space flight:	May 19, 2000
Landing of the last space flight:	September 7, 2016
Time in space:	534d 02h 48min
EVA inserts:	5
EVA total duration:	31h 54min
Space flights
STS-101 (2000) Soyuz TMA-8 (2006) ISS expedition 13 Soyuz TMA-16 (2009/2010) ISS expedition 21 ISS expedition 22 Soyuz TMA-20M (2016) ISS expedition 47 ISS expedition 48

Jeffrey Nels "Jeff" Williams (born January 18, 1958 in Superior , Wisconsin , USA ) is an American astronaut .

Life

Williams comes from the north of the US state Wisconsin and grew up on the southern tip of Lake Superior . In 1976 he graduated from high school in winter and joined the US Army . He attended the prestigious USMA Military Academy at West Point ( New York ) and studied applied science and engineering. He received his bachelor's degree in May 1980. At the USMA, he began parachuting, was a member of the university team and made it to the point of teaching in this sport.

After Williams completed his pilot training in September 1981, he was transferred abroad for three years. He came to the Federal Republic of Germany and served in the squadron of the 3rd Panzer Division (3rd Armored Division) in Friedberg, Hesse . The most famous soldier in the division, which was dissolved in 1992, was Elvis Presley , who served in the Ray Barracks for two years from March 1958.

Back in the United States, Williams continued his studies. He went to the south of San Francisco location, Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey ( California ). In 1987 the NPS awarded him a master’s degree in aerospace engineering and honored his academic achievements with an award.

The Army then loaned Williams to NASA . At the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Texas , he tested new instruments and computer programs for the space shuttles in a special space shuttle simulator, the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). He also headed the Operations Development Office in the Flight Crew Operations Directorate (FCOD). The FCOD is where all the threads come together when it comes to the use of astronauts in US space travel. Starting with the selection of new candidates or teams, through the development of training plans, to advice on the development of new space vehicles.

In 1992 Williams left the JSC and was trained as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base (EAFB) in California . He passed the United States Naval Test Pilot School in June 1993 at the top of his class and found a job as a test pilot and head of flight tests in the EAFB's quality assurance department. Two years later he attended some officer courses at Naval War College (NWC), which is located on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island . In addition to military leadership, he was trained in national security and strategic studies. The NWC awarded him another master's degree in these subjects in 1996.

Astronaut activity

Williams had applied to NASA as an astronaut candidate several times before he was actually selected in May 1996. He had previously made it through to the finals twice and been invited to the mandatory interviews and medical tests: in 1987 when he was a student at the NPS and in 1992 when he worked at the JSC.

Williams and his 43 classmates - ten pilots, 25 mission specialists, and nine international aspirants - began their two-year basic training in August 1996. He has been a full mission specialist since the fall of 1998. A further training phase followed in the JSC space systems department. He then familiarized himself with the systems of the International Space Station (ISS) at the Marshall Space Flight Center .

In November 1998 Williams was selected for its first space flight. The STS-101 mission took place in May 2000 and led to the ISS. One day after the Atlantis docked at the space station, and before the crew had opened the hatches, Williams was conducting an EVA . Together with his colleague James Voss, he did some maintenance work on the ISS. The shuttle flight ended after ten days.

According to STS-101, Williams was a commission responsible for improving the shuttle cockpit. He then worked for a short time at NASA headquarters and finally in the EVA department of the astronauts office. Williams also went into the water once for NASA. Together with the astronauts John Olivas and Greg Chamitoff and three other volunteers, he spent one and a half weeks in the underwater laboratory "Aquarius" in July 2002. This excursion took place as part of the NEEMO program. The US space agency has been carrying out these "NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations" for years. NASA signed a cooperation agreement with the US weather service NOAA , which owns the laboratory off the coast of Florida . The Aquarius is an 80-ton steel structure that has been anchored to the seabed at a depth of 18 meters six kilometers off the coast of Key Largo since 1987 . The spatial conditions correspond roughly to those of the Zvezda module of the ISS.

In December 2002, Williams was appointed commander of the replacement crew for ISS Expedition 10 . His US colleague Sunita Williams and the Russian cosmonaut Konstantin Kosejew were supposed to act as flight engineers. After the Columbia disaster in February 2003, the crew strength of the ISS was reduced to two people from the seventh regular crew onwards for reasons of supply. This had an impact on all teams appointed up to that point. The Williams crew was disbanded and replaced by Bill McArthur and Valeri Tokarew. Williams was given a new chance to take part in a future mission as the commander of the replacement crew of the twelfth permanent crew .

In January 2006, Williams became a flight engineer on ISS Expedition 13 . Together with the Russian Pavel Winogradow and the Brazilian Marcos Pontes , he set off for the ISS at the end of March 2006. Guest cosmonaut Pontes flew back to earth after a week and a half together with ISS expedition 12 . Vinogradov and Williams left the space station for six and a half hours for maintenance in early June. Five weeks later, STS-121 stopped at the ISS and, in addition to food, equipment and experiments, brought another crew member - Thomas Reiter . Together with the German, Williams carried out a second EVA at the beginning of August. After six months on board the station, Commander Vinogradov and his flight engineer Williams landed with Soyuz TMA-8 again in September 2006 .

Williams took off again for the ISS on September 30, 2009 with Soyuz TMA-16 . On November 24th he took command of the ISS from Frank De Winne and on December 1st of the ISS expedition 22 . He returned to Earth on March 18, 2010.

Williams started on March 18, 2016 with the Soyuz TMA-20M for a third long-term stay on the ISS as a flight engineer for ISS Expedition 47 . After decoupling from Soyuz TMA-19M in June 2016, he took command of ISS Expedition 48 and returned to Earth on September 7, 2016. Williams spent a total of 534 days in space, making it the American record holder for the total flight time until April 2017. He ranks 15th on the list of astronauts with the most flight experience .

Summary

No.	mission	function	Flight period	Flight duration
1	STS-101	Mission specialist	May 19-29, 2000	09d 20h 09min
2	Soyuz TMA-8 ( ISS 13 )	Flight engineer	March 30th - September 29th, 2006	182d 22h 43min
3	Soyuz TMA-16 ( ISS 21 & 22 )	Flight engineer / ISS commander	September 30, 2009 - March 18, 2010	169d 04h 09min
4th	Soyuz TMA-20M ( ISS 47 & 48 )	Flight engineer / ISS commander	March 18 - September 7, 2016	172d 03h 47min

Private

Williams and his wife have two sons.

Web links

Commons : Jeffrey N. Williams - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Jeffrey N. Williams on the NASA website - biography, pictures and videos (English; PDF)
spacefacts.de: Short biography

Individual evidence

↑ Katherine Trinidad, Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters: NASA Assigns Space Station Crews, Updates Expedition Numbering. NASA, November 21, 2008, accessed November 22, 2008 .
^ NASA, International Space Station Partners Announce Future Crew Members. In: NASA Press Release 14-048. NASA, February 11, 2014, accessed February 13, 2014 .

personal data
SURNAME	Williams, Jeffrey N.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Williams, Jeffrey Nels (full name); Williams, Jeff (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH	January 18, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH	Superior , Wisconsin , USA

[1] Katherine Trinidad, Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters: NASA Assigns Space Station Crews, Updates Expedition Numbering. NASA, November 21, 2008, accessed November 22, 2008 .

[2] NASA, International Space Station Partners Announce Future Crew Members. In: NASA Press Release 14-048. NASA, February 11, 2014, accessed February 13, 2014 .