TOM JONES

ASTRONAUT SPEAKER

Extending the Space Shuttle

September 8, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

NASA finds itself in a terrible dilemma. It has cash enough only to fund shuttle ops through 2010. The administration and Congress have flatlined NASA’s budget and so the new Orion cannot appear sooner than 2015. We will rely totally on Russian Soyuz transport to the ISS after 2011, and Congress has not even granted authority for NASA to purchase those services. Russia now seems a shaky partner to entrust with the key to the space station for 4+ years. Yet that is the prospect.

Mike Griffin’s latest interview is technically astute: we need to retire shuttle to free up funds to build and test Orion. There seems little prospect Congress will bump up the budget top line. A new administration will have a stark choice:  surrender US access to ISS by relying solely on Russia, or keep flying the shuttle, which is risky to crews and will eat up the funds for Orion and other major NASA programs. A new administration may decide to choose the short term expedient of keeping shuttle flying, and not increase the NASA budget. Result — long-term disaster. We would squeeze Orion and delay its debut, defer the heavy Ares V cargo rocket and the Altair lander, and essentially delete the deep-space goals set for NASA by the administration and Congress in 2004.

Such a move would guarantee that the US will surrender leadership in human spaceflight, expressing a lack of will to keep Americans on the exploration frontier. The only solution I see is to educate a new administration that maintaining US leadership in space will now be expensive, the result of four years of fiscal neglect. The NASA budget will have to be increased if we are to maintain Americans on the station, and yet accelerate Orion to minimize our reliance on a risky Russian monopoly.

The question: will our leaders care?

www.AstronautTomJones.com

Filed Under: Space

In the air with a Fortress

September 4, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

I was up flying out of Leesburg, VA, on Sat. Aug. 30, during the Leesburg Airport (KJYO) Open House. In the traffic pattern with me, while I was practicing Cessna 172 touch-and-go’s–was the Experimental Aircraft Association’s B-17 Flying Fortress, Aluminum Overcast. What a sight, and what a pleasure, to share the sky with such a classic airplane. On the ground I had a chance to see the -17up close, too. Salutes to all Eighth Air Force (and other Command) B-17 crewmen, for flying this great aircraft in combat.

This was the first time this “old” bomber pilot (B-52, 1978-83) had shared the local sky with such a beautiful B-17.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Hell Hawks! interview posted

September 4, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Last Sunday’s (Aug. 31) Hell Hawks! radio interview on the John Batchelor show, broadcast from Los Angeles, is now posted on my web site and at Batchelor’s podcast page. Col. Dave Harmon tells the story of his miraculous survival from a direct hit on his main fuel tank by a dead German gunner. I added the overall context for this 14-minute story about the Hell Hawks! Thanks to John Batchelor for featuring this important story and gripping new book.

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“Hell Hawks!” reunion featured P-47 Thunderbolt four-ship

September 2, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

The Hell Hawks (365th Fighter Group) reunited in Ann Arbor from Aug. 7-10. About 15 pilots and ground crewmen attended, and took in the Thunder Over Michigan air show on Aug. 9. This video features the rare sight of four Thunderbolts in formation, producing sounds and images that many of the vets had not seen since 1945. While the Thunderbolts were roaring overhead, I was signing copies of Hell Hawks! and passing them on to some of the Hell Hawks fighter pilots (Bob Hagan, Ed Lopez, and Mike Cannon) who were kind enough to add their signatures.

You can find some great photos from the P-47s’ appearance at Thunder Over Michigan at Bill Scheuerman’s site.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Hell Hawks! on air and on sale

September 1, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Saturday, Aug. 30, saw Bob Dorr and I signing copies of Hell Hawks! at the National Air & Space Museum’s Udvar Hazy Center. Museum visitors purchased nearly the entire stock on hand — 63 copies went out the door, along with a dozen copies of Sky Walking.

Sunday evening, Aug. 31, saw me on the air with radio talk show host John Batchelor, interviewing me about Hell Hawks! I was joined by Hell Hawk veteran and pilot David N. Harmon, Col. USAF (ret). Col. Harmon flew a combat mission in his P-47, Elsie, on Sept. 19, 1944. His flight bombed a German panzer concentration with deadly effect. Shortly after, near Bitburg, Harmon took on a Wehrmacht flak battery that had downed several American planes. He dove on the guns at 400 mph in a steep, 40-degree dive, hammering the guns with .50-caliber fire from his eight machine guns. A dead German gunner, slumped over the firing bar, kept spitting shells into the air–one hit Harmon square in his Jug’s belly.

The 20mm round exploded in Harmon’s main fuel tank. He felt a tremendous jolt to the plane, and his armored seat pan leapt several inches higher with the impact. Staying low to avoid flak tracers streaking down from a parallel ridge, Harmon kicked in water injection for extra speed. His Pratt & Whitney R2800 engine roared in response, and after five miles on the tree tops, Harmon was able to climb and streak for home. He landed back at base with his plane perforated by flak hits; the P-47 was condemned to the junk heap. But not before his crew chief retrieved the nose fragment of the 20mm shell that burst in the main tank. Full of aviation gas, the tank didn’t contain enough air to support an explosion, and the fluid helped smother the shock of the explosion.

Harmon won the Distinguished Flying Cross (his second) for that action. He still has the 20mm shell tip. He will be 89 years old this fall. He signs his letters: “The Luckiest Man Alive.”

The radio interview is posted at my website: the first item on the “What’s New” page.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Hell Hawks! radio interview Aug. 31

August 29, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Maj. Dave Harmon of the Hell Hawks receives Distinguished Flying Cross in fall 1944.

I will be appearing on the John Batchelor radio show this Sunday, Aug. 31, 2008, along with Hell Hawks Major Dave Harmon (shown here being decorated for bravery in combat). Air time for this interview about my new book “Hell Hawks!” (with Bob Dorr) will be Sunday evening, nationwide.

Filed Under: History

American Heritage: Fred Haise and Apollo 13

August 29, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

The Fall ’08 issue of American Heritage magazine features eight great survival stories. One is my article on the Apollo 13 near-disaster, focusing on the skills that enabled Lunar Module Pilot Fred Haise and his crew to survive a crippling oxygen tank explosion and execute a harrowing four-day return from deep space. I interviewed Haise via phone at his home in suburban Houston. He not only survived Apollo 13, but two years later, after sustaining severe burns in an air crash, returned to flying status and in 1977 piloted the shuttle Enterprise to its first test landing. Today, NASA and the nation need leaders and explorers like Haise, Lovell, and Swigert. See my website for an excerpt of the article. The issue is on newstands now.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Launch entry

August 29, 2008 By TOM JONES Leave a Comment

Welcome to my Flight Notes. I’m former NASA astronaut Tom Jones (www.AstronautTomJones.com). Check here for my latest thoughts on our greatest adventure, the human exploration of the cosmos. Thanks for visiting, and leave a comment or say Hello.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

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