Background
Jeff Ashby was born June 16, 1954, in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in Evergreen, Colorado, southwest of Denver.
Jeff Ashby was born June 16, 1954, in Dallas, Texas, and grew up in Evergreen, Colorado, southwest of Denver.
He graduated from Evergreen High School in 1972. He attended the University of Idaho, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1976. He later earned a Master of Science degree in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee in 1993.
He is a retired Captain in the United States. Navy. He currently works for Blue Origin as chief of mission assurance. Ashby is a 1986 graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as "TOPGUN", and the United States. Naval Test Pilot School.
As a test pilot in the United States. Navy, Ashby helped develop the F/A-18 aircraft and flew the aircraft in combat missions as part of Operation Desert Storm and Operation Southern Watch during and after the Gulf War and as part of Operation Continue Hope in Somalia.
He was the Navy Attack Aviator of the Year in 1991. Ashby commanded a Fighter Squadron stationed aboard the aircraft carrier United States Ship Abraham Lincoln.
In 1994, his squadron was designated the top F/A-18 squadron in the Navy. Ashby accumulated over 7,000 flight hours and 1,000 carrier landings during six aircraft carrier deployments in his Navy career.
Ashby was selected as an astronaut candidate in December 1994 at age 40.
He was initially scheduled to be the pilot on STS-85 in 1997 but was replaced due to a family illness. He piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-93 in July 1999 and STS-100 in April 2001, and commanded mission STS-112 in October 2002. His first flight, aboard Columbia, deployed the Chandra X-ray Observatory and was the first United States. space mission commanded by a female, Eileen Collins.
Ashby"s latter two flights aboard Endeavour and Atlantis were the sixth and ninth assembly missions for the International Space Station.
He has traveled over 11 million miles, flown 436 orbits around the Earth, and logged over 660 hours (275 days) in space. Ashby was hired by Jeff Bezos"s private spaceflight company Blue Origin as the Chief of Mission Assurance, where he works to assure safety for human space flight.