Thomas Dale Akers (born May 20, 1951) is a former American astronaut in

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil List of government space agencies, space program ...

Space Shuttle program The Space Shuttle program was the fourth human spaceflight program carried out by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), which accomplished routine transportation for Earth-to-orbit crew and cargo from 1981 to 2011. I ...

Education

Akers was the valedictorian of his 29-member 1969 senior class from Eminence, Missouri. He worked summers as a park ranger in the 80,000 acre federal wilderness that borders Eminence. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Rolla (now the

Missouri University of Science and Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology, or Missouri S&T, is a public research university in Rolla, Missouri. It is a member institution of the University of Missouri System. Most of its 7,645 students (fall 2020) study engineering, busi ...

) with

B.S. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

and M.S. degrees in

applied mathematics Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods by different fields such as physics, engineering, medicine, biology, finance, business, computer science, and industry. Thus, applied mathematics is a combination of mathemati ...

in 1973 and 1975, respectively. At the age of 24, he returned to Eminence to become its math teacher, and subsequently its high school principal. In 1979, when a

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...

recruiter left brochures on his desk for his students, it was Akers who decided to sign up. He was selected for the astronaut program in 1987 and officially became an astronaut in 1988. As part of his training with NASA, Akers taught science classes at Troy State University for a brief period of time.

NASA career

Akers is a veteran of four shuttle flights in which he spent over 800 hours in orbit, including more than 29 hours of extra-vehicular activity (EVA) experience. In each of his flights, his role was as a mission specialist.

STS-41

His first space flight was in 1990 on STS-41, the 11th flight of

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program ...

''Discovery''. He was instrumental in deploying the European Space Agency

satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...

Ulysses, a solar-exploration craft, as well as tending several secondary payloads and experiments.

STS-49

Three Crew Members Capture Intelsat VI - GPN-2000-001035

His next mission was in 1992 on

STS-49 STS-49 was the NASA maiden flight of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'', which launched on May 7, 1992. The primary goal of its nine-day mission was to retrieve an Intelsat VI satellite, Intelsat 603, which failed to leave Low Earth orbit two y ...

, the maiden flight of Shuttle ''Endeavour''. A primary goal of that mission was to capture and repair the non-functional Intelsat VI-F3 satellite. The first two attempts failed; Akers joined the third attempt which was successful. This marks the first three-person EVA in human history and was also the longest EVA (8 hours, 29 minutes) ever conducted to that time.

STS-61

On Akers' third mission in 1993 on

STS-61 STS-61 was the first NASA Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, and the fifth flight of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour''. The mission launched on 2 December 1993 from Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. The mission restored the spacebor ...

, the fifth flight of ''Endeavour'', he was one of four mission specialists who repaired and upgraded the

Hubble Space Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope (often referred to as HST or Hubble) is a space telescope that was launched into low Earth orbit in 1990 and remains in operation. It was not the first space telescope, but it is one of the largest and most vers ...

on its first servicing mission. Akers spent just under 13.5 hours outside the ''Endeavour'' in two EVAs. On May 18, 1994, Akers appeared on ''

Home Improvement The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

'' as himself along with rest of the STS-61 crew.

STS-79

His last mission was in 1996 on

STS-79 STS-79 was the 17th flight of Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'', and the 79th mission of the Space Shuttle program. The flight saw ''Atlantis'' dock with the Russian space station Mir to deliver equipment, supplies and relief personnel. A variety of sc ...

, the 17th flight of shuttle

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 ...

. This was the fourth shuttle flight to rendezvous 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&n ...

and the first to exchange U.S. astronauts with Mir, returning

Shannon Lucid Shannon Wells Lucid (born January 14, 1943) is an American biochemist and retired NASA astronaut. At one time, she held the record for the longest duration stay in space by an American and by a woman. She has flown in space five times including ...

to earth and leaving

John Blaha John Elmer Blaha (born August 26, 1942, in San Antonio, Texas) is a retired United States Air Force colonel and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five space missions aboard the Space Shuttle and Mir. Blaha is married to the former Bren ...

After NASA

Akers retired from

in 1997 and the Air Force in 1999 at the rank of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, taking a position as instructor of Mathematics at the University of Missouri–Rolla, which in 2008 changed its name to the Missouri University of Science and Technology. Akers retired from teaching in 2010.

Other work

Akers made a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

on the TV show ''

'' by

Touchstone Television The second incarnation of Touchstone Television (formerly known as Fox 21 Television Studios) was an American television production company that is a subsidiary of Disney Media Networks' Walt Disney Television owned by The Walt Disney Company. It ...

. In Series 3, Episode 24, "Reality Bytes", Akers and the Hubble crew appeared as guests on Tool Time and showed some of the tools they used in space. They also brought a video showing the first Tim Taylor 'grunt' used in communications during a space walk.

Special honors

High School Valedictorian. Graduated summa cum laude from University of Missouri-Rolla. Named a Distinguished Graduate of U.S.

Air Force Officer Training School Officer Training School (OTS) is a United States Air Force and United States Space Force commissioning program located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama. Overview Officer Training School is a part of the Jeanne M. Holm Center fo ...

, Squadron Officer School, and U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School. Recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal with two

oak leaf cluster An oak leaf cluster is a ribbon device to denote preceding decorations and awards consisting of a miniature bronze or silver twig of four oak leaves with three acorns on the stem. It is authorized by the United States Armed Forces for a speci ...

s; Legion of Merit Award;

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 ...

;

Air Force Meritorious Service Medal __NOTOC__ The Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) is a military award presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States subsequent to January 16, ...

;

Air Force Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fifth ...

; Air Force Achievement Medal; NASA Distinguished Service Medal; two

NASA Exceptional Service Medal The NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, ae ...

s; four

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astrona ...

s. Awarded an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1992. Awarded ten Outstanding Teacher awards from UMR/S&T 2000–2010, and the Missouri Governors Teaching Award 2004.

References

External links

NASA Astronaut bio: T. Akers
September 2020
Article "Astronaut to Math Teacher"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Akers, Thomas 1951 births Living people United States Air Force astronauts People from Shannon County, Missouri Missouri University of Science and Technology alumni Missouri University of Science and Technology faculty U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni United States Air Force officers American test pilots Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the NASA Distinguished Service Medal Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal Space Shuttle program astronauts Mathematicians from Missouri Scientists from Missouri Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Spacewalkers Mir crew members