Jerry L. Ross

Jerry Lynn Ross was born on January 20, 1948, here in Crown Point Indiana. He is the first person to go on seven space flights. He also has over 1393 hours in space. He holds the record with nine space walks (totaling 58 hours and 18 minutes). On his last two shuttle missions he was involved in the assembly of the United States portion of the International Space Station.

He graduated from Crown Point High School in 1966. After he graduated he went to another Indiana school, Purdue University. There he obtained a Bachelor of Science (1970) and Master of Science (1972) in Mechanical Engineering. Ross, an Air Force ROTC student at Purdue University, received his commission upon graduation in 1970. After he got his master’s degree in 1972 he entered active duty in the Air Force. He was assigned to the Ramjet Engine Division of Air Force Aero-Propulsion Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Next, he was a flight test engineer, not a test pilot, at Edwards Air Force Base, in California. While in Test Pilot School at Edwards, he was chosen to be flight test engineer on a B-1 Bomber test program. This program was the Air Force’s highest priority at the time.

He first applied for the Astronaut program in 1977. Although not selected during this application process, he did go to work as go to work for NASA as a military person in the payload operations group. After a year and a half, he was then selected from over 6000 applicants for the Astronaut program. He retired from the Air Force on March 31, 2000 with the rank of colonel. By the time he retired from the Air Force he had flown in 21 different types of aircraft, logged over 3,800 flying hours, and now holds a private pilot’s license.

Jerry Ross is honored in Crown Point with a street, park, and a school all named in honor of him. He lives in Houston, Texas, but visits Indiana regularly. He was the Grand Marshall of the Crown Point 4th of July Parade in 2000. He visited Crown Point High School in October 2002. He attended Purdue Homecoming on September 28, 2002. He attended the Jerry Ross School Dedication in October of 2003. He visited Challenger Learning Center at Purdue’s Calumet Campus on October 29, 2003.

When Jerry Ross was a young boy he made scrapbooks about satellites and flying in space. When he was in fourth grade he decided that he wanted to go to Purdue University, become an engineer, and get involved in the space program. All of that hard work helped him go beyond his goal.