Jerry L. Ross

Jerry L. Ross is an American astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force colonel who flew seven Space Shuttle missions, then a record for most spaceflights by one person.

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STS-61-B: The 1985 Space Shuttle mission that deployed three communications satellites and tested techniques for building structures in space. Ross made his first spaceflight on this mission and conducted two spacewalks.
Space Shuttle: NASA’s reusable crewed spacecraft system, which launched astronauts and cargo into orbit from 1981 to 2011. It carried Ross on all seven of his spaceflights.
NASA Astronaut Corps: NASA’s group of astronauts selected and trained for crewed space missions and related work. Ross joined the corps in 1980 and served as an astronaut for decades.
Space Shuttle program: NASA’s 30-year human spaceflight program that operated the Space Shuttle from 1981 to 2011. Ross’s seven flights made him one of the program’s most experienced astronauts.
STS-27: The 1988 Space Shuttle mission that deployed a classified payload and returned with extensive damage to its thermal protection tiles. Ross’s second flight demonstrated the risks of shuttle operations soon after the Challenger disaster.
Spaceflight: Travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere, including crewed and uncrewed missions into space. Ross’s record counts separate crewed missions into space.
Robert L. Crippen: American astronaut and naval aviator who piloted the first Space Shuttle mission and commanded later shuttle flights. Crippen commanded Ross’s first spaceflight, STS-61-B.
Spacewalk: An operation in which an astronaut works outside a spacecraft while protected by a spacesuit. His nine spacewalks made him one of the most experienced shuttle-era spacewalkers.
STS-37: The 1991 Space Shuttle mission that deployed the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory and included two spacewalks. Ross helped release the observatory and repaired its stuck antenna during an unplanned spacewalk.
Extravehicular activity: Work performed by an astronaut outside a spacecraft while wearing a spacesuit. Ross accumulated nine spacewalks across his shuttle career.