Jeffrey Ashby | |
---|---|
![]() | |
Born | Jeffrey Shears Ashby June 16, 1954 |
Education | University of Idaho (BS) University of Tennessee, Knoxville (MS) |
Awards | Distinguished Flying Cross Air Medal |
Space career | |
NASA astronaut | |
Rank | Captain, USN |
Time in space | 27d 16h 19m |
Selection | NASA Group 15 (1994) |
Missions | STS-93 STS-100 STS-112 |
Mission insignia | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Retirement | June 2008 |
Jeffrey Shears Ashby (born June 16, 1954) is an American mechanical engineer, and former naval officer and aviator, test pilot and NASA astronaut, a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions. He is a retired Captain in the U.S. Navy. He currently works for Blue Origin as chief of mission assurance.
Jeff Ashby was born on June 16, 1954, in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in Evergreen, Colorado, southwest of Denver. He graduated from Evergreen High School in 1972. He attended the University of Idaho as a member of the school's joint Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps (NROTC) program, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering in 1976. He later earned a Master of Science degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee in 1993.[1]
Ashby was selected as an astronaut candidate in December 1994 at age 40. He was initially scheduled to be the pilot on STS-85 in 1997 but was replaced due to a family illness.[4] He piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-93 in July 1999 and STS-100 in April 2001, and commanded STS-112 in October 2002.
His first flight, aboard Columbia, deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory. Ashby's latter two flights aboard Endeavour and Atlantis were the sixth and ninth assembly missions for the International Space Station. He has traveled over 11 million miles, flown 436 orbits around the Earth, and logged over 660 hours (27.5 days) in space.[1]
Ashby was hired by Jeff Bezos's private spaceflight company Blue Origin as the Chief of Mission Assurance,[5] where he works to assure safety for human space flight.[6] He lives in Twin Lakes, Lake County, Colorado.
On July 15, 2019, Ashby sustained severe injuries after falling 500 feet near the summit of La Plata Peak mountain. He was located later that night and transported to the hospital after being recovered the following morning.[7]