Veteran astronaut Tom Akers was born in St. Louis, grew up in Eminence, Missouri, and attended Missouri University of Science and Technology in Rolla. Then, he went to space — an experience he calls "an honor of a lifetime."
On Saturday, in a ceremony at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Akers was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.
"I never dreamed of being an astronaut," Akers said. "Never even thought about it till I got in the Air Force. Fortunately, I had a degree in math from Rolla, and after spending four years as the high school principal at Eminence, I went looking for an easier job."
That career change involved blasting through the atmosphere on a rocket and drifting through the airless vacuum of space. By the end of his career, Akers took part in four space shuttle missions — including the 1993 repair of the Hubble Space Telescope, which NASA describes as "one of the most challenging and complex manned missions ever attempted."
For Akers, it was another day on the job.
"When you're out there in a spacesuit, [it's] kind of like being in a straitjacket. You can't move as quickly or as easily as you can here with gravity," he said. "It's not scary at all. You're really concentrating on getting the job done when you're out there. … You literally don't waste any time, and very rarely do you get to look around and look at the Earth."
After his career at NASA, Akers' orbit brought him back to Missouri, where he returned to the rewarding but difficult task of teaching. He eventually spent 11 years as a math professor at the Missouri University of Science and Technology.
He retired from teaching in 2010.
"I really loved it," he said. "There's no better feeling than explaining something to someone and seeing the light bulb come on."
On "St. Louis on the Air," Akers spoke with STLPR's Jonathan Ahl about his career in NASA, his space shuttle missions and his upcoming Hall of Fame induction. To hear the full conversation, listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or YouTube, or click the play button below.
"St. Louis on the Air" brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Layla Halilbasic is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
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