Jerry Lynn Ross (born January 20, 1948,

Crown Point, Indiana Crown Point is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Indiana, United States. The population was 33,899 at the 2020 census. The city was incorporated in 1868. On October 31, 1834, Solon Robinson and his family became the first settlers to ...

) is a retired United States Air Force officer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the lim ...

and a former NASA

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally ...

. He is a veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions, making him the joint record holder for most spaceflights (a record he shares with Franklin Chang-Diaz). His papers, photographs and many personal items are in the Barron Hilton Flight and Space Exploration Archives at Purdue University. He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame during ceremonies in May 2014. Ross is the author of ''Spacewalker: My Journey in Space and Faith as NASA's Record-Setting Frequent Flyer'' (Purdue University Press, 2013) with John Norberg. In March 2014 it was announced ''Spacewalker'' would be available in a French translation through the specialist aerospace publisher Altipresse. Fellow astronaut

Chris Hadfield Chris Austin Hadfield (born August 29, 1959) is a Canadian retired astronaut, engineer, fighter pilot, and musician. The first Canadian to perform extravehicular activity in outer space, he has flown two Space Shuttle missions and also served ...

describes Ross in his 2013 autobiography, ''An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth'', as "the embodiment of the trustworthy, loyal, courteous and brave astronaut archetype."

Education

Ross graduated from Crown Point High School,

, in 1966. He received Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in

Mechanical Engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, an ...

from

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and mon ...

in 1970 and 1972, respectively. At Purdue he joined the

Purdue Reamer Club Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

Military career

Ross, an Air Force ROTC student at Purdue University, received his commission upon graduation in 1970. After receiving his master's degree from Purdue in 1972, he entered active duty with the Air Force and was assigned to the Ramjet Engine Division of Air Force Aero-Propulsion Laboratory at

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Wright-Patterson Air Force Base (WPAFB) is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place just east of Dayton, Ohio, in Greene and Montgomery counties. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur W ...

, Ohio. He conducted computer-aided design studies on

ramjet A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an as ...

propulsion systems, served as the project engineer for captive tests of a supersonic ramjet missile using a rocket sled track, and as the project manager for preliminary configuration development of the ASALM strategic air-launched missile. From June 1974 to July 1975, he was the Laboratory Executive Officer and Chief of the Management Operations Office. Ross graduated from the

USAF Test Pilot School The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (USAF TPS) is the Air Force's advanced flight training school that trains experimental test pilots, flight test engineers, and flight test navigators to carry out tests and evaluations of new aerospace weap ...

’s Flight Test Engineer Course in 1976 and was subsequently assigned to the

6510th Test Wing Year 651 ( DCLI) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 651 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the ...

at Edwards Air Force Base, California. While on assignment to the 6510th’s Flight Test Engineering Directorate, he was project engineer on a limited flying qualities evaluation of the RC-135S aircraft and, as lead B-1 flying qualities flight test engineer, was responsible for the stability and control and flight control system testing performed on the B-1 aircraft. He was also responsible, as chief B-1 flight test engineer, for training and supervising all Air Force B-1 flight test engineer crewmembers and for performing the mission planning for the B-1 offensive avionics test aircraft. Ross has flown in 21 different types of aircraft, holds a

private pilot A private pilot licence (PPL) or, in the United States, a private pilot certificate, is a type of Pilot licensing and certification, pilot licence that allows the holder to act as pilot in command of an aircraft privately (not for remuneration) ...

's license, and has logged over 3,900 flying hours, the majority in military aircraft. He retired from the Air Force on March 31, 2000.

NASA career

In February 1979, Ross was assigned to the Payload Operations Division at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center as a payload officer/flight controller, responsible for the flight operations integration of payloads into the Space Shuttle. Ross was selected as an

in May 1980. His technical assignments since then have included:

EVA Eva or EVA may refer to: * Eva (name), a feminine given name Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters * Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment * Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...

, or "

space walks Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmental support. EVA inc ...

", RMS (

Remote Manipulator System Canadarm or Canadarm1 (officially Shuttle Remote Manipulator System or SRMS, also SSRMS) is a series of robotic arms that were used on the Space Shuttle orbiters to deploy, manoeuvre, and capture payloads. After the Space Shuttle ''Columbia'' ...

, or "robotic arm"), and chase team; support crewman for STS 41-B, STS 41-C and STS 51-A; spacecraft communicator (

CAPCOM is a Japanese video game developer and publisher. It has created a number of multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil'', ''Monster Hunter'', ''Street Fighter'', ''Mega Man'', ''Devil ...

) during STS 41-B, STS 41-C, STS 41-D, STS 51-A and STS 51-D; Chief of the Mission Support Branch; member of the 1990 Astronaut Selection Board; Acting Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office, Chief of the Astronaut Office EVA and Robotics Branch, and Astronaut Office Branch Chief for Kennedy Space Center Operations Support. Ross was assigned to

STS-62-A STS-62-A was a planned NASA Space Shuttle mission to deliver a reconnaissance payload (Teal Ruby) into polar orbit. It was expected to use ''Discovery''. It would have been the first crewed launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, a ...

, the first Shuttle mission to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base, but the mission was canceled after the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster. Ross flew as a mission specialist on STS 61-B (1985),

STS-27 STS-27 was the 27th NASA Space Shuttle mission, and the third flight of Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. Launching on December 2, 1988, on a four-day mission, it was the second shuttle flight after the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster of Ja ...

(1988) and

STS-37 STS-37, the thirty-ninth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the eighth flight of the Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'', was a six-day mission with the primary objective of launching the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO), the second of the Great Obser ...

(1991), was the Payload Commander on

STS-55 STS-55, or Deutschland 2 (D-2), was the 55th overall flight of the NASA Space Shuttle and the 14th flight of Shuttle '' Columbia''. This flight was a multinational Spacelab flight involving 88 experiments from eleven different nations. The exp ...

/ Spacelab-D2 (1993), and again served as a mission specialist on the second Space Shuttle to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station

Mir ''Mir'' (russian: Мир, ; ) was a space station that operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, operated by the Soviet Union and later by Russia. ''Mir'' was the first modular space station and was assembled in orbit from 1986 to& ...

, STS-74 (1995), the first International Space Station assembly mission,

STS-88 STS-88 was the first Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). It was flown by Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'', and took the first American module, the ''Unity'' node, to the station. The seven-day mission was highlighted by ...

(1998) and

STS-110 STS-110 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) on 8–19 April 2002 flown by Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. The main purpose was to install the S0 Truss segment, which forms the backbone of the truss structure on the ...

(2002). A veteran of seven space flights, Ross has over 1,393 hours in space, including 57 hours and 55 minutes on nine

s. (see below) In addition to his record number of launches, among personal milestones Ross held the U.S. record for spacewalks (9) until that was surpassed by the current record holder,

ISS The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ( ...

Expedition 14 Expedition 14 was the 14th expedition to the International Space Station (ISS). Commander Michael López-Alegría, and flight engineer Mikhail Tyurin launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome on 18 September 2006, 04:09 UTC, aboard Soyuz TMA-9. They jo ...

commander

Michael Lopez-Alegria Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

(ten EVA's totaling 67 hours and 40 minutes). However, there is speculation that on

(1988) Ross made an additional EVA. This shuttle mission was a classified DoD satellite launch and therefore information about the flight has never been released. In 2013 John Norberg, who worked with Ross on his book, filed a Freedom of Information Act concerning STS-27 with the National Reconnaissance Office. The NRO confirmed it had control of the records and declined to release any information about the flight. Ross has never commented on the objectives or his work on STS-27. Ross officially ranks third in the world for spacewalks behind Russian Anatoly Solovyev (16) and Lopez-Alegria. Ross served as Chief of the Vehicle Integration Test Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas until he retired in January 2012. Ross retired from NASA on January 28, 2012, after being the first person to launch into space seven times. He also leaves NASA after placing third in the most spacewalks after completing nine EVA's.

Spaceflight experience

STS-61-B STS-61-B was NASA's 23rd Space Shuttle mission, and its second using Space Shuttle ''Atlantis''. The shuttle was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 26, 1985. During STS-61-B, the shuttle crew deployed three communication ...

Atlantis Atlantis ( grc, Ἀτλαντὶς νῆσος, , island of Atlas) is a fictional island mentioned in an allegory on the hubris of nations in Plato's works '' Timaeus'' and ''Critias'', wherein it represents the antagonist naval power that b ...

'' was launched at night from the Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, on November 26, 1985. During the mission, the crew deployed the

MORELOS-B The ''Morelos'' satellites are a series of Mexican communications satellites. The first two operated between 1985 and 1998 and provided telephony, data, and television services over the territory of the Mexican Republic and adjacent areas. ...

, AUSSAT-2, and SATCOM Ku-2

communications satellites A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth ...

, and operated numerous other experiments. Ross conducted two six-hour spacewalks to demonstrate Space Station construction techniques with the EASE/ACCESS experiments. After completing 108 orbits of the Earth in 165 hours, 4 minutes, 49 seconds, ''Atlantis'' landed on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on December 3, 1985.

'', was launched from KSC on December 2, 1988. The mission carried a Department of Defense payload, as well as a number of secondary payloads. After 68 orbits of the Earth in 105 hours, 6 minutes, 19 seconds, the mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on December 6, 1988. The mission is noteworthy due to the severe damage ''Atlantis'' sustained to its critical heat-resistant tiles during ascent.

'', was launched from KSC on April 5, 1991, and deployed the 35,000 pound

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory The Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) was a space observatory detecting photons with energies from 20 k eV to 30 GeV, in Earth orbit from 1991 to 2000. The observatory featured four main telescopes in one spacecraft, covering X-ra ...

. Ross performed two spacewalks totaling 10 hours and 49 minutes to manually deploy the stuck Gamma Ray Observatory antenna and to test prototype

Space Station Freedom Space Station ''Freedom'' was a NASA project to construct a permanently crewed Earth-orbiting space station in the 1980s. Although approved by then-president Ronald Reagan and announced in the 1984 State of the Union address, ''Freedom'' was ...

hardware. After 93 orbits of the Earth in 143 hours, 32 minutes, 44 seconds, the mission concluded with a landing on Runway 33, at Edwards Air Force Base, on April 11, 1991.

'' Columbia'', was launched from KSC on April 26, 1993. With Ross serving as Payload Commander/ Mission Specialist, nearly 90 experiments were conducted during the German-sponsored Spacelab D-2 mission to investigate life sciences, materials science, physics, robotics,

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galax ...

, and the Earth and its atmosphere. ''Columbia'' landed on May 6, 1993, at Edwards Air Force Base, Runway 22, after 160 orbits of the Earth in 239 hours and 45 minutes. STS-74 ''

'', launched from KSC on November 12, 1995, was NASA's second Space Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station

. During the eight-day flight the crew aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis attached a permanent docking module to Mir, conducted a number of secondary experiments, and transferred tons of supplies and experiment equipment between ''Atlantis'' and the Mir station. ''Atlantis'' landed at Kennedy Space Center on November 20 after accomplishing in 129 orbits of the Earth, traveling 3.4 million miles in 196 hours, 30 minutes, 44 seconds.

'' Endeavour'' (December 4–15, 1998) was the first International Space Station assembly mission. During the 12-day mission the U.S.-built ''Unity'' module was mated with the Russian ''Zarya'' module. Ross performed three spacewalks totaling 21 hours 22 minutes to connect umbilicals and attach tools/hardware. The crew also deployed two satellites, Mighty Sat 1 and SAC-A. The mission was accomplished in 185 orbits of the Earth in 283 hours and 18 minutes.

'' (April 8–19, 2002) was the 13th Shuttle mission to visit the International Space Station (ISS). This, the first mission in the final phase of the ISS Assembly, included the delivery and installation of the S0 Truss; the first time the station's robotic arm was used to maneuver spacewalkers around the station; and the first time that all of a shuttle crew's spacewalks were based from the station's ''Quest'' Airlock. Ross performed two EVAs totaling 14 hours and 9 minutes. Mission duration was 259 hours and 42 minutes.

Organizations

Ross is a lifetime member of the

Association of Space Explorers The Association of Space Explorers is a non-profit organization with a membership composed of people who have completed at least one Earth orbit in space (above , as defined by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. It was founded in 1985, ...

, and the Purdue Alumni Association, and a corresponding member of the

International Academy of Astronautics The International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) is an independent non-governmental organization established in Stockholm (Sweden) on August 16, 1960, by Dr. Theodore von Kármán, and recognized by the United Nations in 1996. The IAA has elected ...

Awards and honors

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

with one Oak Leaf * Legion of Merit *

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

with three Oak Leaf Clusters *

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: *Meritorious Civilian Service Award * Meritorious Service Me ...

with one Oak Leaf * Distinguished Graduate of the

* Outstanding Flight Test Engineer Award, Class 75B *Recipient of 15 NASA medals *American Astronautical Society Victor A. Prather Award for space walking achievements (1985, 1990, 1999), and Flight Achievement Award (1992, 1996, 1999, 2002) *Honorary Doctor of Science, Purdue University * Jerry Ross Elementary School in

was named after him.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Jerry Lynn 1948 births Living people Aviators from Indiana United States Air Force officers Recipients of the Legion of Merit Purdue University College of Engineering alumni U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal United States Air Force astronauts United States Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees NASA civilian astronauts People from Crown Point, Indiana Recipients of the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement Space Shuttle program astronauts Spacewalkers Mir crew members