Brent Ward Jett Jr. (born October 5, 1958), (

Capt Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, USN, Ret.), is a retired American naval officer and

aviator An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

, test pilot, aerospace and aeronautical engineer, and NASA

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...

Personal life

Jett was born in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 61,606. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Pontiac is about northwest of Detroit. Founde ...

, but considers

Fort Lauderdale, Florida Fort Lauderdale () is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and largest city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth ...

, to be his hometown. Married to Connie Jett of Atlanta, Georgia. His hobbies are water and snow skiing,

board sailing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

boating Boating is the leisurely activity of travelling by boat, or the recreational use of a boat whether Motorboat, powerboats, Sailing, sailboats, or man-powered vessels (such as rowing and paddle boats), focused on the travel itself, as well as sp ...

, running, basketball, and squash.

Education

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in

Aerospace Engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is si ...

from the United States Naval Academy in 1981. He received a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S.

Naval Postgraduate School The Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) is a public graduate school operated by the United States Navy and located in Monterey, California. It offers master’s and doctoral degrees in more than 70 fields of study to the U.S. Armed Forces, DOD ci ...

in 1989.

Naval service

Jett was designated a

Naval Aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...

in March 1983, and reported to VF-101 at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia for initial F-14 Tomcat training. Upon completion of this training, he was assigned to VF-74 and made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean aboard the

aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...

. While assigned to VF-74, he was designated as an airwing qualified Landing Signal Officer (LSO) and also attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School ( TOPGUN). Jett was selected for the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School – Test Pilot School Cooperative Education Program in July 1986, and completed 15 months of graduate work at

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

, before attending the

U.S. Naval Test Pilot School The United States Naval Test Pilot School (USNTPS), located at Naval Air Station (NAS) Patuxent River in Patuxent River, Maryland, provides instruction to experienced United States Navy, Marine Corps, Army, Air Force, and foreign military experi ...

in June 1989. After graduation in June 1990, he worked as a project test pilot at the Carrier Suitability Department of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate,

Naval Air Test Center Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air Sys ...

, flying the F-14A/ B/ D,

T-45A The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) T-45 Goshawk is a highly modified version of the British BAE Systems Hawk land-based training jet aircraft. Manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) and British Aerospace (now BAE Systems), the T-45 i ...

, and A-7E. Jett returned to the operational Navy in September 1991 and was again assigned to VF-74, flying the F-14B aboard USS ''Saratoga''. He has logged over 5,000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft and has over 450 carrier landings.

NASA career

Selected by NASA in March 1992, Jett reported to the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

in August 1992. After two years of various technical assignments in the Astronaut Office, Jett was assigned to his first mission as the pilot of

STS-72 STS-72 was a Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' mission to capture and return to Earth a Japanese microgravity research spacecraft known as Space Flyer Unit (SFU). The mission launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 11 January 1996. Crew Spac ...

. A year later he again served as pilot on STS-81. From June 1997 to February 1998, he served as NASA Director of Operations at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia. Two years later he was the commander on

STS-97 STS-97 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Endeavour''. The crew installed the first set of solar arrays to the ISS, prepared a docking port for arrival of the Destiny Laboratory Module, ...

. Finally, he served as the commander of Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' on STS-115. A veteran of four space missions, he has traveled over 12.1 million miles, and logged a total of 41 days, 18 hours, and 1 minute in space. Jett retired from the U.S. Navy in July 2007, but remained with NASA. In November 2007, he was appointed as Director of Flight Crew Operations. From November 2007 to February 2011, he was Director of Flight Crew Operations at JSC. From March 2010 to January 2013, Jett was the Deputy Manager for the NASA Commercial Crew Program. He retired from NASA in January 2013.

Spaceflight experience

STS-72

Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'', piloted by Jett, launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B, January 11, 1996, 09:41 UTC. During the 9-day mission the crew retrieved the Japanese Space Flyer Unit launched by NASDA March 18, 1995. The crew additionally deployed and retrieved the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology Flyer (OAST-Flyer) and performed two EVAs with the purpose of preparing techniques for assembling the International Space Station. ''Endavour'' landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility 20 January 1996, 07:41 UTC.

STS-81

Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'', piloted by Jett, lifted off from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B January 12, 1997, 09:27 UTCThe 10 day mission marked Jett's second space flight. The mission was the fifth in a series of joint missions between the U.S. Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir and the second one involving an exchange of U.S. astronauts. In five days of docked operations more than three tons of food, water, experiment equipment and samples were moved back and forth between the two spacecraft. ''Atlantis'' touched down at the Space Shuttle Landing Facility, January 22, 1997, 14:23 UTC.

STS-97

Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B, 1 December 2000, 03:06 UTC STS-97 was Jett's third mission to space and first time in command. The primary objective of the mission was to deliver and install a 17 ton solar array to the International Space Station, in addition to batteries, radiators to provide cooling and a communications system for voice and telemetry. Assembly operations were conducted during 3 EVAs. ''Endeavour'' touched down at the Shuttle Landing Facility, 11 December 2000, 23:04 UTC

STS-115

Jett's fourth and final space mission commenced as Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' launched from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39B, 9 September 2006, 15:15 UTC. STS-115 was the first assembly mission to the International Space Station after the ''Columbia'' disaster. The primary objective of the mission was to deliver and install the P3/P4 truss structure and solar array to the International Space Station during 3 EVAs. The mission concluded with the landing of ''Atlantis'' at the Shuttle Landing Facility, 21 September 2006, 10:21 UTC.

Organizations

* Society of Experimental Test Pilots *

Association of Naval Aviation Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

* U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association * Association of Space Explorers

Special honors

* Graduated first of 976 in the Class of 1981 at U.S. Naval Academy * Distinguished Graduate U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Class 95 * Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross * Awarded the

Defense Superior Service Medal The Defense Superior Service Medal (DSSM) is a military decoration of the United States Department of Defense, which is presented to United States Armed Forces service members who perform superior meritorious service in a position of significant ...

and Defense Meritorious Service Medals * Awarded the Navy Commendation Medal * Awarded the NASA Exceptional Service Medal * Awarded 4 NASA Space Flight Medals * Awarded the various other service awards * A portion of Northeast 56th Street in Jett's home city of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been designated "Brent Jett Boulevard" in his honor.

References

External links

*
Astronautix biography of Brent W. Jett Jr.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jett, Brent W. Jr. 1958 births Living people 1996 in spaceflight 1997 in spaceflight 2000 in spaceflight 2006 in spaceflight American aerospace engineers United States Navy astronauts NASA people People from Pontiac, Michigan People from Fort Lauderdale, Florida United States Naval Academy alumni United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni Naval Postgraduate School alumni Aviators from Michigan United States Navy captains United States Naval Aviators American test pilots Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the NASA Exceptional Service Medal Space Shuttle program astronauts Mir crew members Military personnel from Michigan