Tom Jones

Former astronaut Tom Jones is a scientist, author, and pilot. In more than eleven years with NASA, Tom flew on four space shuttle missions to Earth orbit. On his last flight, he led three spacewalks to install the centerpiece of the International Space Station, the American Destiny laboratory. He has spent 53 days working and living in space. He is is currently writing “Space Shuttle Voices,” recording astronaut experiences during the space shuttle’s 30-year career. See his full bio here.

Stories from this author

Inside the space station’s Quest airlock.

Ask the Astronaut: What does space smell like?

Atlantis over the Bahamas during the last space shuttle flight in 2011.

Ask the Astronaut: Why wasn’t the space shuttle built out of titanium?

Tom Jones on a spacewalk during the STS-98 mission in February 2001.

Ask the Astronaut: Do spacewalkers worry about dying outside?

Just some of the stars at the center of our own galaxy, the Milky Way.

Ask the Astronaut: Do you believe there’s life on other planets?

The aurora as seen from the International Space Station.

Ask the Astronaut: Has space travel changed your life?

The air outside space shuttle Challenger’s window glows a hot pink-orange during reentry of the STS-41G flight in 1984.

Ask the Astronaut: Does it feel hot inside a spacecraft during reentry?

Astronauts Shane Kimbrough and Sandy Magnus play with floating food during the STS-126 shuttle mission.

Ask the Astronaut: What is free fall?

The T-38 is as cool-looking as it is valuable for crew training.

Ask the Astronaut: Can only pilots apply to be astronauts?

Tom Jones making a breakfast burrito in space. Meals are easier on the ground, and there’s more variety.

Ask the Astronaut: What do astronauts eat right before launch?

Astronauts training (and having a little fun) on the KC-135.

Ask the Astronaut: How does NASA simulate weightlessness?

Mattingly inspects an airlock made for Gemini astronauts to practice spacewalks underwater.

Where NASA Learned to Spacewalk

Gemini astronauts jumped into this Maryland pool to experience working in space.

View inside the cockpit of a U. S. Air Force Boeing B-52H Stratofortress, en route to Australia in 1982.

A Full Retaliatory Response

When President John Kennedy contemplated nuclear war, what went through the minds of the U.S. bomber crews?

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