Business · Ars Technica
Two space shuttle-era spacewalkers enter Astronaut Hall of Fame
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Tom Akers and Joe Tanner are finally in the same class.
Key facts
- Chris Ferguson, who flew as the pilot of Tanner’s last mission, STS-115, and who was inducted in 2022, honored his former crewmate similarly
- In total, Akers spent almost 30 hours of his nearly 34 days in space conducting spacewalks
- The two veteran space shuttle crew members were inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame together on May 16
- Akers, together with his STS-49 crewmates Rick Hieb and Pierre Thuot, reached up with their gloved hands to grab hold of and secure a communications satellite in the orbiter’s payload bay
Summary
The two veteran space shuttle crew members were inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame together on May 16. In 1984, Tanner reported to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) to fly as an instructor pilot and then applied for the next class of astronaut candidates. “Tom came in with the class of 1987, which, interestingly enough, I interviewed for. “And I’ve been leading the way ever since,” said Akers, interrupting Tanner while both laughed in a joint interview with collectSPACE.com. Akers’ and Tanner’s spaceflight careers overlapped by five years and included four missions each.