Jeffrey Shears Ashby

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeffrey Ashby
Jeffrey Ashby
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on December 8, 1994
(15th NASA Group)
Calls: 3 space flights
Start of the
first space flight: 		July 23, 1999
Landing of the
last space flight: 		October 8, 2002
Time in space: 27d 16h 19min
EVA inserts: No
retired on June 2008
Space flights

Jeffrey Shears "Jeff" Ashby (born June 16, 1954 in Dallas , Texas , USA ) is an American astronaut .

Born in Texas, Ashby grew up in Colorado . He calls the Rocky Mountains near the small town Evergreen, 40 kilometers west of Denver , his home. After high school he studied mechanical engineering at the University of Idaho and earned a bachelor's degree in 1976 .

Marine activity

Ashby had signed up for the US Navy in 1972 and began his military service after graduating. He was trained as a naval pilot on type A-7E "Corsair II" and F / A-18 "Hornet" machines . He graduated from the United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program in Miramar ( California ), where in 1986 he received the diploma of the tactical officer. This course has been known as "TOPGUN" since the film of the same name with Tom Cruise, although it is officially called Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor. Two years later, Ashby completed his training as a test pilot in Patuxent River, Maryland .

Ashby was assigned to Kampfgeschwader 94 (Navy designation VFA-94) and ran aboard the " USS Abraham Lincoln " in late May 1991 towards the Persian Gulf . It was the first time the aircraft carrier was deployed as a command ship for the Allied forces, coordinating peacekeeping measures after the Second Gulf War . Ashby flew 33 F / A-18 sorties in total. After studying aeronautical engineering at the University of Tennessee and earning a master's degree in 1993 , he returned to the crisis region for four months with the "USS Abraham Lincoln" in the summer of that year to close the Iraqi no-fly zones as part of " Operation Southern Watch " monitor.

Ashby was sent to Somalia in October 1993 on the "USS Abraham Lincoln" . For three months he took part in 32 missions in "Operation Continue Hope", which after " Operation Restore Hope " supported the UN troops and humanitarian organizations.

Astronaut activity

Jeffrey Ashby was selected as one of ten candidate pilots with the 15th Astronaut Group in December 1994. From a total of 2,962 applicants who met the formal selection criteria, 121 finalists emerged. They were invited to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in the summer of 1994 for tests, interviews and medical examinations. The aspiring astronauts began their one-year basic training in March 1995.

In the fall of 1996, Ashby, who is called "Bones" by his colleagues, was selected for his first space flight. He was supposed to take part as a pilot in the space shuttle mission STS-85 , but was replaced by Kent Rominger only six months later without giving a reason .

Since the spring of 1998 Ashby trained for its maiden flight with STS-93 , which was carried out in July 1999 by the space shuttle Columbia . For the first time, Eileen Collins was the head of a shuttle company. The crew consisted of five astronauts, Ashby being the only one with no spaceflight experience. Seven hours after take-off, the Chandra X-ray telescope , the main payload of the flight, was deployed.

A year after his first flight into orbit, Ashby received his next nomination. He was a pilot of STS-100 in April / May 2001. The aim of the Endeavor was the International Space Station (ISS), which delivered a robotic arm . Two mission specialists made two exits (EVAs) to assemble the grapple. They were supported by Ashby, who operated the shuttle's robot arm from the cockpit.

In October 2002, Ashby commanded a mission with STS-112 for the first time. The Atlantis brought the lattice structure S1 to the ISS. Three EVAs were required to connect the 14-ton segment to the station.

Ashby, who left the Navy in 2001, is currently serving as a liaison officer. Stationed in Colorado, he coordinates the collaboration between the Air Force Space Command in Colorado Springs and NASA in Washington, DC

Private

Ashby is married for the second time and has no children.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Rominger to Replace Ashby as STS-85 Pilot. In: Release: 97-42. NASA, March 18, 1997, accessed March 19, 2010 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Jeffrey Ashby  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Ashby, Jeffrey Shears
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Ashby, Jeff (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH June 16, 1954
PLACE OF BIRTH Dallas , Texas , USA