Biography

His space flight missions included sending the Ulysses spacecraft to investigate the polar regions of the Sun (1990), the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour which included space walks to repair the stranded International Telecommunications Satellite (1992), an 11-day mission to capture and restore the Hubble Space Telescope (1993), and a Shuttle mission to rendezvous with the Russian Space Station Mir (1996).

A veteran of four space flights on the Space Shuttle (1990, 1992, 1993, and 1996), Akers accumulated over 800 hours of space flight, including over 29 hours of space walking experience.

He retired from teaching in 2010 and went on to consult for NASA as a member on independent review boards.

Akers retired from the Air Force in October of 1999 and accepted a position as an instructor in the Math Department at the University of Missouri-Rolla (now Missouri University of Science and Technology).

Akers was selected for the astronaut program in 1987. Positions he held included: Astronaut Office focal point for Space Shuttle software development; astronaut representative during Shuttle software testing in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory; supporting launch activities at the Kennedy Space Center; astronaut representative for EVA activities (space walks); Deputy Director of Mission Operations; Acting Deputy Director of Flight Crew Operations, and Assistant Director (Technical) of Johnson Space Center.