CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Grounded in his family and his faith, Atlantis astronaut Jerry Ross is ready to fly into space again.

STS-110

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And when he does, the 54-year-old who grew up in Indiana amidst traditional Christian values will go into the history books as the first human to make seven spaceflights into Earth orbit.

"It's hard to understand how I've been able to be so fortunate to do this, but I can tell you that I certainly have appreciated every minute of it," said Ross, a Methodist who also holds the record for spending the most time spacewalking. "I think the Lord above has been taking care of me all through this."

Ross first flew in 1985 and then five more shuttle missions followed every two to three years through 1998. During that time he participated in satellite deliveries, science research, military operations and early space station construction.

"I really feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to serve my country in such an incredible way," said Ross, who is a retired Air Force colonel.

Those that know the mechanical engineer say such comments originate in Ross' heart, the product of a man whose faith in God runs deep and who was taught by loving family members that hard work will allow you to realize your dreams -- the same ideals he has tried to instill in his own offspring.

"It's where I came from and how I was brought up," he said. "My family was a Christian family and they had what I call a good Midwestern work ethic and values."

Those defining principles come from someone who was born in 1948 and raised beside the cornfields of Crown Point, Indiana -- a town in the northwest corner of the Hoosier State that is near the industrial city of Gary, where his father was a steelworker.

And like many little boys growing up in the Midwest, where the cool night skies routinely offer a dazzling display of stars, it was easy for Ross to imagine traveling to far off places and experiencing all sorts of adventures.

Rocketry always fascinated him -- he still enjoys flying model rockets and is a favorite celebrity among the nation's more serious spacemodelers -- and Ross says he often thought of spaceflight as a child, even before Sputnik 1 was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957.

As he reached adolescence the Space Race began to heat up, and Ross recalls deciding in the fourth grade to attend Purdue University -- where such notable astronauts as Neil Armstrong and Gus Grissom had graduated. Even in his early adult years Ross could often be seen glued to television sets that were tuned to an Apollo moonwalk.

Thinking that the Air Force could be his ticket to a seat on a future space mission, Ross joined ROTC at Purdue and graduated in 1970 with a bachelor of science in Mechanical Engineering. A masters degree followed two years later.

By the time NASA began hiring its first group of shuttle astronauts in 1978, Ross had distinguished himself as a flight test engineer working on the B-1 bomber at the Mecca of aviation, Edwards Air Force Base in California. But the agency turned down his initial astronaut application, so he did the next best thing: work in Mission Control at Houston as a payload officer.

Perservering, two years later he was accepted into the astronaut class of 1980 and then trained and waited for his first flight in 1985.

Along the way he married Karen Pearson, who works at the Johnson Space Center in Houston preparing space food for flight, and together they had two children: Amy, who also works at JSC on new spacesuits for astronauts; and Scott, who manages an auto service center.

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