Page 3 - Aerotech News and Review 8-21-15

ASTRONAUT, from 1
“I loved it,” Ross recalled. “Having the el-
evated view was fascinating.”
Even so, he saw aviation as a means to an
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lites were launched. Even though he liked Flash
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But the more he learned about the space pro-
gram, the more he wanted to get involved. He
was fascinated and during the time he was in
fourth grade, the United States decide to begin
a space program.
“When I went to Purdue, it was not to be an
astronaut,” Ross explained. “No human beings
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then I thought Test Pilot School was a good way
to enhance my credentials.
The path led to his acceptance for astronaut
training and the extraordinary career that fol-
lowed.
He loved the challenging missions where
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aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis he was concerned
when the shuttle made it to orbit that something
would happen to keep him from beginning his
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“I wanted to do a spacewalk so bad I could
barely stand it,” Ross recalled. “When I exited
the space shuttle hatch I wanted to let out a war-
hoop of happiness, but I was afraid my crew in-
side and all of the people on the ground might
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inside. So I didn’t do it.
“Flying in space is incredibly great, but being
able to go outside was like cake and ice cream
with nuts, chocolate, cherries and everything
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space.”
Much planning went into the preparation and
successful completion of spacewalks, he said,
and all of the details were thoroughly worked
out on the ground. That included 10 hours in a
huge water tank at Johnson Space Center that
simulates working in a space suit in zero gravity
using full-scale mock ups of mission hardware.
“The only time I was a little uncertain going
out the door on a spacewalk was the one time I
went out on an unplanned spacewalk during my
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were carrying the Compton Gamma Ray Ob-
Former astronaut Jerry Ross landed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., four times, including the landing of
Space Shuttle Atlantis at the conclusion of STS-37.
August 21, 2015
Former astronaut Jerry Ross prepares to sign his bobblehead for a young fan.
servatory into space to deploy it. It was a sister bay of the shuttle and had not yet released it.
observatory to Hubble Space Telescope. Ground controllers in Maryland had remotely
deployed the two solar arrays, but when they
“We had picked the Compton Gamma Ray attempted to deploy the antenna boom for the
high gain antenna, a critical link that was going
shuttle and were holding it above the payload to downlink all of the data to the ground, it did
not deploy.
“We were sent out to see if we
could release the antenna and lock
it in position. I was somewhat ap-
prehensive that we might not be able
to fix it. We didn’t know what was
wrong and we had limited resources.
But very quickly I was able to get out
to the antenna and shake it free and
then we used a wrench to drive a bolt
to lock into position. That was a great
day because the Compton Gamma
Ray Observatory was a $630 million
dollar observatory that would have
become space junk. It demonstrated
very well the compatibility of un-
manned robotic types of investigation
of the universe, but also that a human
needs to be in the system when things
don’t go right.”
Ross had a role in the Space Shuttle
Program from its inception to its con-
NASA photograph by Jim Ross “The only time I was a little uncertain going out
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NASA photograph by Ken Ulbrich
clusion, but he also had roles in the development
of the International Space Station.
“I think that the space station is exactly what
we hoped for,” Ross said. “It is an on orbit re-
source 365 days a year and research can be ac-
complished a year at a time. It permits new ways
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learning a lot about systems and how to make
them more reliable and robust and require less
resupply from the ground. Those are critical fac-
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to the moon and Mars. We want a system that
requires almost no resupply and without having
to worry if something is going to break.”
To a young person thinking of becoming an
astronaut, Ross suggests take every job you have
and do the best with it. Take new opportunities
as they present themselves and be available
and have the right training to take advantage of
chances when they come. Get a solid education,
be a team player and the kind of person supervi-
sors are pleased to nominate for new and excit-
ing opportunities.
“Figure it out and then set goals and study
hard,” he suggested. “Work hard and don’t give
up too easily. I was happy and successful and I
feel like I never had to work a day in my life. I
would like to see more people get that chance.”
the door on a spacewalk was the one time I went
out on an unplanned spacewalk during my third
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