Thomas Jones | |
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| Born | Thomas David Jones (1955-01-22)January 22, 1955 (age 70) |
| Education | United States Air Force Academy (BS) University of Arizona (MS,PhD) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Captain,USAF |
Time in space | 53d 0h 49m |
| Selection | NASA Group 13 (1990) |
| Missions | STS-59 STS-68 STS-80 STS-98 |
Mission insignia |     |
Thomas David Jones (born January 22, 1955) is a former United States astronaut. He was selected to the astronaut corps in 1990 and completed fourSpace Shuttle flights before retiring in 2001. He flew onSTS-59 andSTS-68 in 1994,STS-80 in 1996, andSTS-98 in 2001. His total mission time was 53 days 48 minutes. He works as a planetary scientist, space operations consultant, astronaut speaker, and author.
Jones was born January 22, 1955, inBaltimore, Maryland. He graduated fromKenwood High School,Essex, Maryland, in 1973; received aBachelor of Science degree inBasic Sciences from theUnited States Air Force Academy in 1977, and aDoctorate inPlanetary Science from theUniversity of Arizona in 1988. Jones is aDistinguished Eagle Scout.[1]
A Distinguished Graduate of theUSAF Academy, Jones served on active duty as an Air Force officer for 6 years. After pilot training in Oklahoma, he flew strategic bombers atCarswell Air Force Base, Texas. As pilot and aircraft commander of aB-52 D Stratofortress, he led a combat crew of six, accumulating over 2,000 hours of jet experience before resigning as a captain in 1983.
From 1983 to 1988, Jones worked toward a Ph.D. at theUniversity of Arizona in Tucson. His research interests included theremote sensing of asteroids, meteorite spectroscopy, and applications of space resources. From 1989 to 1990, he was a program management engineer in Washington, D.C., at theCIA's Office of Development and Engineering. In 1990 he joinedScience Applications International Corporation in Washington, D.C. as a senior scientist. Jones performed advanced program planning for NASA's Solar System Exploration Division, investigating future robotic missions to Mars, asteroids, and theouter Solar System.
After a year of training following his selection by NASA in January 1990, Jones became an astronaut in July 1991. In 1994 he flew as amission specialist on successive flights ofSpace Shuttle Endeavour. First, in April 1994, he ran science operations on the "night shift" duringSTS-59, the first flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-1). Then, in October 1994, he was the payload commander on the SRL-2 mission,STS-68. Jones next flew in late 1996 onSpace Shuttle Columbia.STS-80 successfully deployed and retrieved 2 science satellites, ORFEUS/SPAS and theWake Shield Facility. While helping set a Shuttle endurance record of nearly 18 days in orbit, Jones usedColumbia's robot arm to release the Wake Shield satellite and later grapple it from orbit. His latest space flight was aboardSpace Shuttle Atlantis onSTS-98, in February 2001. Jones and his crew delivered theDestiny module to theInternational Space Station, (ISS) and he helped install the Lab in a series of three spacewalks lasting over 19 hours. The successful addition ofDestiny gave the first Expedition Crew the largest space outpost in history and marked the start of onboard scientific research at the ISS. A veteran of four space flights, Jones has logged over 52 days (1,272 hours) in space.
Since leaving NASA in 2001, Jones has worked as a planetary scientist and consultant in space operations. He is a senior research scientist at theFlorida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, engaged in planning robotic and astronaut expeditions to deep space and the near-Earth asteroids. He is also an author and speaker,[2] with four adult, non-fiction works to his credit. From 2006 to 2009 he served on the NASA Advisory Council. He is a board member of the Astronauts Memorial Foundation.[3]
He appears frequently as a science/space commentator on radio and television.
Jones's awards include theNASA Space Flight Medal (four awards),NASA Distinguished Service Medal,NASA Exceptional Service Award,NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal, andNASA Outstanding Leadership Medal. His military decorations include theAir Force Commendation Medal. He was a distinguished graduate and the outstanding graduate in Basic Sciences at theUnited States Air Force Academy.King's College in Wilkes-Barre, Penn. awarded him an honorary doctoral degree in 2007. The Main Beltasteroid 1082 TomJones is named in his honor.
Jones's 2006 bookSky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir, was named one of the top five books on the subject of space by theWall Street Journal.[4]
Jones was inducted into theUnited States Astronaut Hall of Fame on April 21, 2018.[5]
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