A Confident Pilot With an Eye for DetailBy Warren E. Leary July 21, 2005
Col. James M. Kelly of the Air Force has logged more than 3,000 hours in F-15 fighters and 35 other types of aircraft. Flying the shuttle, he says, is not all that different.
"The real preparation from flying airplanes is making quick decisions in critical environments," he said. "Your life depends on making the right decision at the right time. And also your life depends on maybe deciding to do nothing at that point."
Colonel Kelly, 41, known by his colleagues for his self-confidence and attention to detail, makes choices and stays with them. Growing up in Burlington, Iowa, with the airport across a cornfield from his home, he decided early on what he wanted to do. Watching planes take off and land from his bedroom window, he decided he was going to be a pilot and an astronaut.
His grades and determination got him into the Air Force Academy, where he graduated in 1986 with a degree in astronautical engineering. Then it was on to the Air Force, where he became an F-15 pilot and picked up the call sign and nickname Vegas while stationed in the Far East. He got the name, he says, for "playing a little bit of poker in Korea" and getting lucky.
Colonel Kelly went on to become an F-15 instructor, graduated from the Air Force Test Pilot School in 1994, and earned a master's degree in aerospace engineering in 1996 from the University of Alabama. He was selected as a NASA astronaut that year and made his first space flight in March 2001 as pilot of the shuttle Discovery on a mission to the International Space Station.
Colonel Kelly's married his high school sweetheart, Dawn Timmerman, the year he graduated from the academy. They have two sons and two daughters.
Colonel Kelly said he was close to several crew members who were killed in the Columbia disaster, particularly Capt. Laurel Salton Clark. The experience, he said, caused him to "pay a lot more attention to the details of my family." It also changed his family's perspective of his job.
"I think they're more worried about going up to fly than they were the last time, obviously because Columbia happened," he said, "So that makes it a little bit more difficult."
After an astronaut has piloted two missions, the next career step is normally to command a mission. Colonel Kelly said he and his wife had postponed discussions of his future as an astronaut until he returned.
Colonel Kelly, who describes himself as "kind of a minimalist," said he would carry a picture of his family on the mission and a few tokens for each of them.
"You see a lot of astronauts with the signs to their kids," he said. "I just told my kids, 'Anytime you see me on TV, it means I love you."'
The Crew
Articles in this series profile the astronauts of the space shuttle Discovery, which is to lift off this month on the first shuttle mission since the loss of the Columbia and its crew of seven on Feb. 1, 2003.https://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/science/space/a-confident-pilot-with-an-eye-for-detail.htmlNASA astronaut encourages Oxnard students to let ambitions soarPosted: Dec. 20, 2013 By Jeremy Foster Special To The Star
JUAN CARLO/THE STAR James Kelly talks about his experience going into space to students Thursday at Oxnard High School. Kelly is a native of Burlington, Iowa, and always dreamed as a child about becoming an astronaut.NASA astronaut James Kelly shared his experiences from two missions to the International Space Station with more than 1,000 students at Oxnard High School.
In the school's performing arts center, Kelly spoke Thursday to about 15 science classes from across the Oxnard Union High School District about his work and inspiration to become a pilot and spaceman.
The native of Burlington, Iowa, was born in 1964, just five years before NASA astronauts first walked on the moon.
"I was 5, and we were all clustered around televisions watching what was happening," he said. "My dad took me outside and we looked at the moon, knowing there were people walking on it."
Kelly's visit was arranged by Oxnard High science teacher Kelly Churchman. Her childhood friend Julie Zingerman, a rocket scientist and Camarillo native, was able to invite the astronaut to speak.
Kelly in 2001 piloted Discovery for the eighth shuttle mission to the space station.
Two years after space shuttle Columbia disintegrated during its re-entry into the atmosphere, Kelly joined a team in 2005 on another mission to the space station to evaluate new procedures for flight safety, shuttle inspection and repair techniques.
Kelly recalled a day in the life of astronauts in space and wowed students with video from his second space journey that included NASA astronaut veteran Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a U.S. spacecraft.
"You think you're right-side up, but in space, there's no right-side up or right-side down," he said as students watched video of astronauts floating through a hatch.
Kelly also showed video of crew members working together on spacewalks to make repairs.
"It's the most dangerous thing we do up in orbit because those guys are outside and can get hit easily by a micrometeorite, but not as many as you saw in ?Gravity,' " Kelly said, referring to the recent film about a space mission that leaves an astronaut stranded in space and struggling to survive.
Kelly told students that astronauts suit up in seven layers of protective gear and are like "mini space stations" when they leave the shuttle.
"You can see that beautiful picture of the Earth in the background," he said, showing the outside of the space station. "It's a gorgeous place to work.
"None of the videos or pictures you see down here on Earth really do it justice. So I highly recommend you all go to space so you can see it for yourselves."
Students asked Kelly about eating, sleeping and accomplishing other basic tasks in zero gravity.
"When you eat in space, food doesn't taste the same," he said. "My theory is that here, the gravity holds everything on the taste buds, but when you're without gravity, that doesn't happen. We use a lot of spices, but we can't cook and make pizza or anything like that."
Kelly said although NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Mars last year, he doesn't expect humans to walk on the planet until 2030 or 2040.
"I'll be watching that on television, but it's quite possible one of you will be going there," he said.
Amber Holmes, 16, said although she couldn't see herself in space, she was inspired to find a career about which she is passionate.
"I think it was nice to see outer space through the eyes of someone who was actually up there," she said. "It was entertaining and educating."https://archive.vcstar.com/news/nasa-astronaut-encourages-oxnard-students-to-let-ambitions-soar-ep-512380161-351522441.html/UA’s First Astronaut Will Speak at UA on Nov. 10October 31, 2005
(...) Kelly, UA’s first astronaut, earned his master’s degree through UA’s video-based distance learning program QUEST, Quality University Extended Site Telecourses. His first trip to the campus in 1996 was for a special graduation ceremony where he was awarded his degree. (...)
https://news.ua.edu/2005/10/uas-first-astronaut-will-speak-at-ua-on-nov-10/Congrats to James M. "Vegas" Kelly (Colonel USAF Retd) BTD 1964. Selected 1996 (Group 16, "The Sardines"), 2 spaceflights on Discovery, 26+d in space. (2001) Pilot STS-102 (5A.1); (2005) Pilot STS-114 (LF1). (2010) Management astronaut; Capcom Branch Chief.
https://twitter.com/aisoffice/status/1790276644252291130James Kelly AstronautAstronaut Col. James Kelly at Wheelift's NASA Open House
Wątek: JM 'Vegas' Kelly - 14.05.1964 (Przeczytany 1301 razy)