Featured Speakers
Thomas D. Jones, PhD
A Distinguished Graduate of the USAF Academy, Dr. Jones served on active duty as an Air Force officer for 6 years. After pilot training in Oklahoma, he flew strategic bombers at Carswell Air Force Base, Texas. As pilot and aircraft commander of a B-52D Stratofortress, he led a combat crew of six, accumulating over 2,000 hours of jet experience before resigning as a captain in 1983.
From 1983 to 1988 he worked toward a Ph.D. at the University of Arizona in Tucson. His research interests included the remote sensing of asteroids, meteorite spectroscopy, and applications of space resources.
After a year of training following his selection by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Jones became an astronaut in July 1991. In 1994 he flew as a mission specialist on successive flights of space shuttle Endeavour. First, in April 1994, he ranscience operations on the "night shift" during STS-59, the first flight of the Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-1). Then, in October 1994, he was the payload commander on the SRL-2 mission, STS-68. Dr. Jones next flew in late 1996 on Columbia. Mission STS-80 successfully deployed and retrieved 2 science satellites, ORFEUS/SPAS and the Wake Shield Facility. While helping set a Shuttle endurance record of nearly 18 days in orbit, Dr. Jones and his crew delivered the U.S. Destiny Laboratory Module to the Space Station, and he helped install the Lab in a series of 3 space walks lasting over 19 hours. The successful addition of Destiny gave the first Expedition Crew the largest space outpost in history and marked the start of onboard scientific research at the ISS. A veteran of four space flights, Dr. Jones has logged over 52 days (1,272 hours) in space, including 3 space walks totalling over 19 hours.
Read a more detailed bio on Dr. Jones at the NASA Web site
Video: view Dr. Jones' Return to the Moon presentation
Harrison H. Schmitt, PhD
Dr. Schmitt was selected as a scientist-astronaut by NASA in June 1965. He was instrumental in providing Apollo flight crews with detailed instruction in lunar navigation, geology, and feature recognition.. He was backup lunar module pilot for Apollo 15.
On his first journey into space, Dr. Schmitt occupied the lunar module pilot seat for Apollo 17 – the last scheduled manned Apollo mission to the moon – which commenced at 11:33 p.m. (CST), December 6, 1972, and concluded on December 19, 1972. This last Apollo mission to the moon for the United States broke several records set by previous flights and include: longest manned lunar landing flight (301 hours, 51 minutes); longest lunar surface extravehicular activities (22 hours, 4 minutes); largest lunar sample return (an estimated 115 Kg, 249 lbs); and longest time in lunar orbit (147 hours, 48 minutes). Apollo 17 ended with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean approximately 0.4 mile from the target point and 4.3 miles from the prime recovery ship, USS TICONDEROGA. Dr. Schmitt logged 301 hours and 51 minutes in space -- of which 22 hours and 4 minutes were spent in extravehicular activity on the lunar surface.
Read a more detailed bio on Dr. Schmitt at the NASA Web site
Video: view Dr. Schmitt's Return to the Moon presentation
Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards
Dr. Robert (Bob) Richards is the Founder and CEO of Odyssey Moon Limited, a commercial lunar enterprise based in the Isle of Man and the first official registrant in the $30M Google Lunar X PRIZE competition. He is also the Director of Space Technology at Optech Incorporated of Canada, where he presided over the first commercial lidar scanner flown in space as well as the first meteorological lidar flown to another planet aboard the NASA Phoenix Mars Lander.
Bob studied aerospace and industrial engineering at Ryerson University; physics and astronomy at the University of Toronto; and space science at Cornell University where he became special assistant to Carl Sagan. A Founder of the International Space University, SEDS, and the Space Generation Foundation, Bob is a strong advocate of the NewSpace movement and has been a catalyst for a number of commercial space ventures.
Read a more detailed bio on Dr. Richards
More about Odyssey Moon Limited
