Tom Jones
Tom Jones was interviewed for BookCast by Fairfax County Public Library Director Sam Clay.
Author Tom Jones spent 11 years in the NASA astronaut program and made four trips into space. He spent 52 days orbiting earth and 19 hours outside the spacecraft “skywalking,” 200 miles from Earth, with the craft orbiting at 17,000 miles per hour.
In addition to Skywalking, Jones has coauthored The Complete Idiot’s Guide to NASA as well as two books on space and history for young people.
After graduating from the Air Force Academy, he piloted B-52 bombers and engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the C.I.A. As a former “cold warrior,” he had to adjust to working hand-in-hand with his former rivals the Russians, in the space program.
Author Dale Brown wrote about Skywalking that it is “a story filled with excitement, disappointment, frustration, danger, triumph and tragedy … Techno-geeks like me will get our share of hard data, but the real treat is learning and experiencing firsthand what its like to make the transformation from mere mortal to American Astronaut. It’s a thrilling ride.” Michael Collins, Apollo 11 command module pilot wrote: “Wow! An astronaut who can put together a graceful sentence.”
Visit his Web site.