Astronaut

Thomas Akers was born on May 20, 1951, in St. Louis, but grew up in the small town of Eminence in southern Missouri. He graduated from Eminence High in 1969 as Valedictorian. Then he was off to the University of Missouri-Rolla where he earned a Bachelor’s Degree in 1973 and a Master’s Degree in Applied Mathematics in 1975 where he graduated Summa Cum Laude.

After graduation, he first returned to his hometown to work as the principal of his former high school. He was then selected to be a part of NASA Astronaut Group 12 in 1987. During that training, he was named a Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Officer Training School, Squadron Officers School, and Test Pilot School.

His first space shuttle mission was on board the Space Shuttle Discovery for STS-41 in 1990. He also took part in three other space missions, STS-49, STS-61, and STS-79, logging more than 33 days in space.

One of his more interesting space walks was in 1993 when the crew captured the Hubble Space Telescope and worked to restore it to full capacity through a record
five space walks by four astronauts.