Jeffrey Ashby

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**Jeffrey Shears "Bones" Ashby**
Astronaut

Nationality	American
Born	June 16, 1954 Dallas, Texas
Occupation¹	Test Pilot
Rank	Captain, USN
Space time	27d 16h 19m
Selection	1994 NASA Group
Mission(s)	STS-93, STS-100, STS-112
Mission insignia
¹ previous or current

Jeffrey Shears "Bones" Ashby (born June 16, 1954) is a former American naval aviator and astronaut, a veteran of three space shuttle missions. He is a retired Captain in the U.S. Navy

Jeff Ashby grew up in Evergreen, Colorado, southwest of Denver, and graduated from high school in 1972. He attended the University of Idaho, earning a B.S. in mechanical engineering in 1976. He later earned a master's degree in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee in 1993. He is a 1986 graduate of the Naval Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun) and the Naval Test Pilot School. As a test pilot in the U.S. 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 USS 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 in his Navy career.

Jeff Ashby was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1994; he piloted space shuttle mission STS-93 in 1999 and STS-100 in 2001 and commanded mission STS-112. STS-100 and STS-112 were both assembly missions for the International Space Station. His accumulated time in space is in excess of 27 days.