18 Facts About Jerome Apt

Jerome "Jay" Apt III was born on April 28,1949 and is an American astronaut and professor at Carnegie Mellon University.

Jerome Apt was a resident of Shadyside and graduated from Shady Side Academy in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1967.

Jerome Apt went on to attend Harvard University, earning a Bachelor of Arts in physics in 1971.

Jerome Apt then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and earned a Doctor of Philosophy in physics in 1976.

Jerome Apt worked in the mission control center on missions STS-7, STS-8, STS-41B, STS-41C, STS-41D, STS-41G, STS-51A, and STS-51D.

Jerome Apt has over 7,000 hours piloting aircraft, has flown on four space missions and has logged over 847 hours in space.

In 1991, Jerome Apt flew on the STS-37 mission aboard shuttle Atlantis.

Jerome Apt made two spacewalks with Jerry Ross, manually deploying the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory's radio antenna when it failed to do so automatically; on the next day their second spacewalk tested hardware later used on the International Space Station.

Jerome Apt's hand conformed to the puncture, filling the hole before any noticeable depressurization could occur.

Jerome Apt was unaware of the puncture until the glove was examined after the mission.

In 1992, Jerome Apt flew on STS-47 aboard shuttle Endeavour as the flight engineer, and commander of one of the two shifts in this round-the-clock mission.

In 1994, Jerome Apt was again a shift commander of the first Space Radar Laboratory mission, STS-59 aboard shuttle Endeavour.

In 1996, Jerome Apt flew on STS-79 aboard shuttle Atlantis and visited the Russian Mir space station.

In 2003, Jerome Apt joined the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University where he is a Full Professor at the Tepper School of Business and the Department of Engineering and Public Policy.

Jerome Apt is the author of the book Orbit: NASA Astronauts Photograph the Earth, published by the National Geographic Society.

Jerome Apt is the author of a large number of technical scientific publications.

Jerome Apt received the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1997 and the Metcalf Lifetime Achievement Award for significant contributions to engineering in 2002.

Jerome Apt is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.