Former astronaut speaks in Rockefeller, March 8

By David Brand

Former NASA astronaut Tom Jones will speak at Cornell March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Schwartz Auditorium of Rockefeller Hall. The talk is free and is open to the public.

The subject of the talk, sponsored by NASA's Comet Nucleus Tour (Contour) and the New York State Space Grant Consortium, will be "The International Space Station: Stepping Stone or Block?"

Jones will discuss the funding challenges facing the International Space Station (ISS) -- midway through its construction in low Earth orbit -- which have made its completion a matter of debate. There is still no consensus within NASA or the Bush administration, says Jones, on what the next human enterprise in space should be.

Now a space science and operations consultant, Jones spent 11 years as an astronaut, logging more than 1,272 hours in space. He was mission specialist and then payload commander on two 1994 space shuttle missions, focusing on Earth's ecosystem and geology. His next space flight was in late 1996, during which he operated the shuttle's robot arm to release a science satellite and later retrieve it from orbit. Jones' last flight was aboard the shuttle Atlantis in February 2001, when he and his crew delivered a laboratory module to the ISS, and he led three space walks to install the laboratory.

Jones received his bachelor of science degree in basic sciences from the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs in 1977 and a doctorate in planetary science from the University of Arizona at Tucson in 1988.

He served on active duty as an Air Force officer for six years, flying strategic bombers out of Carswell Air Force Base in Texas. Later he held key positions with the Central Intelligence Agency's Office of Development and Engineering and with Science Applications International Corp., both in Washington, D.C. He is a recipient of the NASA Space Flight Medal, NASA Exceptional Service Award, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Air Force Commendation Medal.