CAPE
CANAVERAL, Fla. - When the space shuttle Atlantis landed on Thursday,
you can bet former astronaut Tom
Jones was watching.
The four-time shuttle flyer,
U.S. Air Force pilot and planetary scientist attended NASA's last shuttle
launch - Discovery's July 4th liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space
Center (KSC) - and is no stranger to the risks of human spaceflight after his
11-year astronaut career. But as long as the effort pushes humanity into new
frontiers and science realms, the crewed exploration of space is a worthy
endeavor, Jones has said.
Jones flew
three science missions aboard NASA space shuttles between 1994 and 1996, and
helped deliver the U.S.-built Destiny laboratory to the International Space
Station (ISS) during the Atlantis shuttle's STS-98
mission in 2001.
In his book
Sky Walking: An Astronaut's Memoir, Jones details his orbital exploits
and took time to answer some questions on his experience and NASA's plans for
the space shuttle program.
SPACE.com: You're a veteran of four space
shuttle flights, three spacewalks and one launch pad abort during your
astronaut career. NASA has now launched its third orbiter flight since the Columbia accident. How do you view the risks
of human spaceflight?
I was
probably naïve at first of how I calculated the risks. I believed we had
minimized it to the absolutely lowest level possible and the people involved
were so good that I didn't have a lot to worry about.
On the
catastrophic problem of foam, I was right in there with the program managers
assessing it as a non-issue. Now, I think the important thing is that when an
astronaut straps into the space shuttle, or the Crew Exploration Vehicle, they
need to know on an ethically honest basis that what they're attempting is worth
the benefit of what they'll get out of this mission.
Looking
at where NASA is now as the agency returns to flight, is it worth the risk?
If it's
just to maintain human spaceflight for the U.S. and not go anywhere, with no increase to our knowledge base or attempt at some
really tough exploration, I don't think it's worth it. [But] clear, ambitious
goals are, perhaps that means going back to the Moon, or visiting near-Earth
asteroids, which has a planetary protection role.
It's
clear from Sky Walking that you are a very spiritual person and that your
faith is important to you? How did that factor into your work as an astronaut?
I don't think
it changed me dramatically. I just know that having my faith, and having
support spiritually from my friends...that kind of support was essential. If you
lay the entire burden and the pressure of the mission on your own shoulders, I
think you're making it really tough on yourself.
Human
beings are social and they need that support from their comrades, both in a
technical and spiritual way. So I just felt that I not only had a spiritual
connection with my crewmates, but I had hundreds of other people praying for
me, and I believe that makes a difference in how you approach the work and your
confidence level.
NASA's
STS-121 shuttle mission, and more recently the STS-115 spaceflight, reopened
the door on ISS construction, and you helped deliver the U.S. Destiny lab during STS-98 aboard Atlantis
in 2001. Is the station what you expected it would be by now?
I expected
that by 2006 it would be farther along, I thought it would be fully crewed by
now with crews of six, and that all the labs would be up there, and of course
so did NASA. And, of course, the Columbia accident kicked the chocks out from under those plans.
There
are seven astronaut families, nine really counting those of the ISS Expedition
13 crew, watching closely as their loved ones fly in space, something your own
family is quite familiar with. How vital is that family support for astronauts
and why did you include it in Sky Walking?
I couldn't
have done these missions with without their support, and I think that's true of
every astronaut's career.
I just
don't know how my wife Liz got through those four flights. I had the focus of
the mission and the reward of actually getting to do the work in an incredibly
exotic and beautiful place. She got all the stress and didn't get any reward,
and that's a generous gift.
You
already had two young children when you launched on your first spaceflight, how
did you explain the risks of your astronaut job to them?
They were
eight and five the first time I flew and 15 and 12 by the end, and more aware
of the risks. They went from very giddy young children just taking snapshots
[of launches] to the knowledge a few years later that they could lose their
dad.
I told them
that this was important, this is what astronauts do for their country. I think
they took heart from that, if I was committed to it that it was alright. I
think after four flights, having put my family through that ringer, it was time
not to do one more time. It was very much a family decision.
In Sky Walking,
you describe NASA's early partnership with Russia's Federal Space Agency during the
construction of the International Space Station. Were those early ISS days more
difficult than they should have been?
I guess I
wasn't expecting them to be easy, but in the early 1990s I thought it would be
easier. As a Cold Warrior, the suspicion was there that the Russian thing was
purely political. But I learned a lot along the way.
I worked
with cosmonauts, learned their capabilities and, as we know, since Columbia they've kept the space station going.
I really had a conversion because I felt that we couldn't really afford to blow
the space station...that this is our only chance to get this right.
The Russian
element, as difficult as it was to digest in the beginning, proved essential, I
think, to the credibility of the whole enterprise in the long run.
Is NASA
at a similar crossroads now as it reaches back to the Moon and on toward Mars?
That it has to get the station right to pursue NASA's vision?
I don't
think the space station has to be on the critical path to get to the Moon or
beyond to Mars. But it will be a lot more difficult if we ignore the
opportunity that the space station offers.
NASA is in
this very difficult transition of transferring from one flight vehicle to
another. They haven't done that since the '70s and I think all of those lessons
have to be relearned. It's probably the biggest challenge that NASA has faced
after the Apollo Moon landings and you can't do it on a shoestring.
When you
look back on your astronaut career, what - if anything - has been left
unfinished?
I think
that my hopes for my astronaut class were that we'd go to the Moon, but it
didn't come to pass. But we got to work on a fantastic challenge and it took me
to my limit. I think there are going to be other people who want to go to their
limits to do some exploration out at the Moon and I believe we should go to the
asteroids after that.
You can
learn more about Jones' experiences in space at his website: www.astronauttomjones.com.
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