In recent elections to the U.S. chapter of the Association of Space Explorers’ Board of Directors, Jake Garn, Tom Jones and Kent Rominger were elected to replace outgoing members Bob Crippen, Owen Garriott and Rick Hieb.
Jake Garn flew as a payload specialist on STS-51D Discovery in 1985. The primary objective of the flight was to deploy two communications satellites, and to perform electrophoresis and echocardiograph operations in space in addition to a number of other experiments. At the conclusion of the mission, Garn had traveled over 2.5 million miles in 108 Earth orbits, logging over 167 hours in space. He has flown more than 10,000 hours in military and private civilian aircraft.
Senator Garn was the first member of congress to fly in space. As a U.S. Senator, Jake Garn served as chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and on three subcommittees: Housing and Urban Affairs, Financial Institutions, and International Finance and Monetary Policy. The senior Utah Senator also was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and served as Chairman of the HUD-Independent Agencies Subcommittee. He served on four other Appropriations subcommittees during his tenure: Energy and Water Resources, Defense, Military Construction, and Interior.
Tom Jones was selected as an astronaut in January 1990 and is a veteran of four space flights, logging over 52 days (1,272 hours) in space. In April 1994, he ran science operations on the “night shift” during STS-59, the first flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-1). In October 1994, he was the payload commander on the SRL-2 mission, STS-68. Jones next flew in late 1996 on STS-80, successfully deploying and retrieving 2 science satellites, ORFEUS/SPAS and the Wake Shield Facility. While helping set a Shuttle endurance record of nearly 18 days in orbit, Jones used Columbia’s robot arm to release the Wake Shield satellite and later grapple it from orbit. His last flight on STS-98 delivered the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module to the Space Station. Jones helped install the Lab in a series of three space walks totaling over 19 EVA hours.
Kent Rominger was selected to the Astronaut Corps in March 1992 and was initially assigned to work technical issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch. He has also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch. A veteran of five space flights, Rominger has logged over 1,600 hours in space. He flew as pilot on STS-73 (1995), STS-80 (1996) and STS-85 (1997), and was crew commander on STS-96 (1999) and STS-100 (2001). Rominger currently serves as Chief of the Astronaut Corps, responsible for the mission preparation activities of all Space Shuttle and future International Space Station crews and their support personnel. He has logged over 5,000 flying hours in over 35 types of aircraft and 685 carrier landings.
The Association of Space Explorers (ASE) is an international nonprofit professional and educational organization of over 300 individuals from 29 nations who have flown in space. Founded in 1985, ASE’s mission is to provide a forum for professional dialogue among individuals who have flown in space, support space science and exploration for the benefit of all, promote education in science and engineering, foster greater environmental awareness, and encourage international cooperation in the human exploration of space.
For more information contact:
Andy Turnage
Executive Director
Association of Space Explorers – USA
1150 Gemini Ave.
Houston, TX 77058
281 280 8172
281 280 8173 (fax)
www.space-explorers.org
ASEUSA@aol.com
