View source for Jeffrey Ashby

{{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]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br/>[[University of Tennessee]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])
|awards        = [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]<br/>[[Air Medal]]
|type          = [[NASA astronaut]]
|rank          = [[Captain (United States)|Captain]], [[United States Navy|USN]]
|time          = 27d 16h 19m
|selection     = [[NASA Astronaut Group 15|NASA Group 15 (1994)]]
|missions      = [[STS-93]]<br/>[[STS-100]]<br/>[[STS-112]]
|insignia      = [[File:Sts-93-patch.jpg|45px]] [[File:STS-100 patch.svg|45px]] [[File:Sts-112-patch.png|42px]]
|retirement    = June 2008
}}
'''Jeffrey Shears Ashby''' (born June 16, 1954) is an American [[mechanical engineer]], and former [[United States Navy|naval officer]] and [[United States naval aviator|aviator]], [[test pilot]] and [[NASA]] [[astronaut]], a veteran of three [[Space Shuttle]] missions. He is a retired [[Captain (United States)|Captain]] in the [[United States Navy|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, Colorado|Denver]]. He graduated from [[Evergreen High School (Evergreen, Colorado)|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|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 "[[United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program|TOPGUN]]", and the [[U.S. Naval Test Pilot School]]. As a [[test pilot]] in the [[United States Navy|U.S. Navy]], Ashby helped develop the [[F/A-18]] aircraft and flew the aircraft in [[Aerial warfare|combat mission]]s 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)|''USS'' Midway (CV-41)]], Ashby became the first F/A-18 pilot to deploy the [[AGM-62 Walleye|Walleye TV guided bomb]] in combat. During that mission, his F/A-18A Hornet from [[VFA-195 (U.S. Navy)|VFA-195]] deployed a Walleye II to attack a T-shaped building at [[Umm Qasr Port|Umm Qasr Naval Base]]. According to him, it was also the first time that his Air Wing ([[Carrier Air Wing Five|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 [[Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelon|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 [[Naval Air Facility Atsugi|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==
[[File:STS-112 Ashby prepares for launch.jpg|thumb|Ashby preparing for launch of STS-112]]Ashby was [[List of astronauts by selection#1994|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 [[Space Shuttle Columbia|''Columbia'']], deployed the [[Chandra X-ray Observatory]]. Ashby's latter two flights aboard [[Space Shuttle Endeavour|''Endeavour'']]  and [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|''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 [[Outer space|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 Business|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=[[KMGH-TV|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 (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]]
* [[Defense Meritorious Service Medal]]
* [[Meritorious Service Medal (United States)|Meritorious Service Medal]]
* [[Air 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

{{Blue Origin}}

{{NASA Astronaut Group 15}}
{{US Navy navbox}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashby, Jeffrey Shears}}

[[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]]