{{short description|American astronaut, aviator and engineer (born 1954)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox astronaut |name = Jeffrey Ashby |image = Jeffrey S Ashby.jpg |birth_name = Jeffrey Shears Ashby |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1954|6|16}} |birth_place = Dallas, Texas, U.S. |death_date = |death_place = |education = University of Idaho (BS)<br/>University of Tennessee (MS) |awards = Distinguished Flying Cross<br/>Air Medal |type = NASA astronaut |rank = Captain, USN |time = 27d 16h 19m |selection = NASA Group 15 (1994) |missions = STS-93<br/>STS-100<br/>STS-112 |insignia = 45px 45px 42px |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.
==Early life and education== 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.<ref name="ashby-bio">{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ashby_jeffrey.pdf |title=Biographical Data – Jeffrey S. Ashby (Captain, USN, Ret.) |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190729212600/https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ashby_jeffrey.pdf |archive-date=July 29, 2019 |url-status=live |date=January 2018 |access-date=July 29, 2019}}</ref>
==Naval career== Ashby is a 1986 graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as "TOPGUN", and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. As a test pilot in the U.S. Navy, Ashby helped develop the F/A-18 aircraft and flew the aircraft in combat missions as part of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Southern Watch during and after the Gulf War and as part of Operation Continue Hope in Somalia. He was the Navy Attack Aviator of the Year in 1991. Ashby commanded a Fighter Squadron stationed aboard the aircraft carrier {{USS|Abraham Lincoln|CVN-72|6}}; in 1994, his squadron was designated the top F/A-18 squadron in the Navy.<ref name="ashby-bio" />
During Desert Storm while based on the ''USS'' Midway (CV-41), Ashby became the first F/A-18 pilot to deploy the Walleye TV guided bomb in combat. During that mission, his F/A-18A Hornet from VFA-195 deployed a Walleye II to attack a T-shaped building at Umm Qasr Naval Base. According to him, it was also the first time that his Air Wing (Carrier Air Wing 5) had used the Walleye in combat.<ref name=":0">{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPgVsz_TnkE |title=The Pursuit of Precision. AGM-62 Walleye The TV-Guided Glide Bomb |language=en |access-date=2024-04-11 |via=www.youtube.com}}</ref>
Later in the war, on February 13, 1991,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/publications/1910/12%20Chapter12.pdf|title=From the Sea: 1990 - 1999|publisher=United States Navy}}</ref> Ashby and his wingman found and destroyed a camouflaged Iraqi Super Frelon helicopter which had been armed with Exocet cruise missiles that could've attacked the ''Midway''. Ashby released a Walleye I into the helicopter and brought back TV footage of the attack back to ''Midway''. This allowed the Persian Gulf carriers to move closer to Kuwait.<ref name="ashby-bio" /><ref name=":0" /> After the war, the aircraft he flew on the Super Frelon strike (''NF-104''), was displayed at NAF Atsugi in Japan in May 1991.<ref name=":0" />
Ashby accumulated over 7,000 flight hours and 1,000 carrier landings during six aircraft carrier deployments in his Navy career.<ref name="ashby-bio" />
==NASA career== thumb|Ashby preparing for launch of STS-112Ashby 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.<ref>{{cite web |last=Harwood |first=William |date=January 19, 2011 |title=Injured astronaut replaced on shuttle Discovery's crew |url=https://spaceflightnow.com/shuttle/sts133/110119kopra/ |access-date=2016-09-16 |website=Spaceflight Now}}</ref> 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.<ref name="ashby-bio" />
==Post-NASA career== Ashby was hired by Jeff Bezos's private spaceflight company Blue Origin as the Chief of Mission Assurance,<ref>{{cite news |last=Cofield |first=Calla |url=https://www.space.com/29728-blue-origin-private-spaceflight-video.html |title=Blue Origin Offers Tantalizing Preview of Private Space Trips (Video) |website=Space.com |date=June 22, 2015 |access-date=July 29, 2019}}</ref> where he works to assure safety for human space flight.<ref>{{cite web |last=DuBois |first=Shelley |url=http://management.fortune.cnn.com/tag/jeffrey-ashby/ |title=What biz leaders can learn from astronauts – Former astronaut Jeffrey Ashby discusses what it takes to make last-minute judgment calls in space and building a solid team |work=CNN Money |date=2012-06-29 |access-date=2012-10-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120703043711/http://management.fortune.cnn.com/tag/jeffrey-ashby/ |archive-date=2012-07-03}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/former-nasa-astronaut-rescued-after-colorado-hiking-fall |title=Former NASA astronaut rescued after Colorado hiking fall |work=The Denver Channel |agency=Associated Press |date=July 19, 2019 |access-date=March 21, 2020}}</ref>
==Awards and decorations== * Defense Superior Service Medal * Legion of Merit * Distinguished Flying Cross * Defense Meritorious Service Medal * Meritorious Service Medal * Navy Air Medal (4x) * Navy Commendation Medal (2x) * Navy Achievement Medal * Navy Attack Aviator of the Year (1991) * NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal * NASA Exceptional Service Medal * NASA Space Flight Medal (3x)
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category}} * [https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/ashby_jeffrey.pdf NASA Biography] – Jeffrey S. Ashby (Captain, USN.) * [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/ashby_jeffrey.htm Spacefacts.de] – biography of Jeffrey Ashby * [https://web.archive.org/web/20060901095819/http://www.supportui.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=24995#Ashby University of Idaho – Alumni Hall of Fame – 2001] – Jeffrey Ashby – class of '72
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Category:1954 births Category:Living people Category:1999 in spaceflight Category:2001 in spaceflight Category:2002 in spaceflight Category:Blue Origin people<!-- currently Chief of Mission Assurance, Blue Origin, as of May 2015 --> Category:People in the space industry Category:United States Navy astronauts Category:NASA civilian astronauts Category:Aviators from Texas Category:University of Idaho alumni Category:University of Tennessee alumni Category:United States Navy personnel of the Gulf War Category:American mechanical engineers Category:United States Navy captains Category:United States Naval Aviators Category:People from Evergreen, Colorado Category:Military personnel from Dallas Category:Recipients of the Legion of Merit Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Category:Recipients of the Air Medal Category:Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Category:Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal Category:United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts Category:Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States) Category:Military personnel from Colorado