JAMES S. VOSS
Born on March 3, 1949, Jim Voss has spent most of his life in the pursuit of his dreams. An avid aviation enthusiast, he has not only traveled in space but also built his own personal airplane, which he enjoys using on weekend excursions. A veteran of five space flights, Voss has logged 201 days in space, including four space walks totaling 22 hours and 35 minutes of EVA time during his twenty-year NASA career.

A graduate of Opelika High School in Opelika, Alabama, Voss received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from Auburn University in 1972, a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering Sciences from the University of Colorado in 1974 and an honorary Doctorate degree from the University of Colorado in 2000.

Upon graduation from Auburn and commissioning as a 2nd Lieutenant, Voss went directly to the University of Colorado to obtain his masters degree under the Army Graduate Fellowship Program. After attending the Infantry Basic Course, Airborne and Ranger schools, he served with the 2nd Battalion 48th Infantry in Germany as a platoon leader, intelligence staff officer, and company commander. On returning to the United States, he attended the Infantry Officer Advanced Course, and then taught for three years in the Department of Mechanics at the U.S. Military Academy. After attending the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and the Armed Forces Staff College, Voss was assigned to the U.S. Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity as a Flight Test Engineer/Research and Development Coordinator. He was involved in several major flight test projects before being detailed to NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center.

Voss has been working at the Johnson Space Center since November 1984, and was selected by NASA in June 1987 to become and astronaut candidate. He has worked as a flight crew representative in the area of Shuttle safety, as a CAPCOM, providing a communications interface between ground controllers and flight crews during simulations and Shuttle flights, and as the Astronaut Office Training Officer. Jim served as the back-up crewmember for two missions to the Russian Space Station Mir. During this time he lived and trained for 2 years at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. Voss served as a mission specialist on STS-44 in 1991 and STS-53 in 1992, was the payload commander on STS-69 in 1995, and again was a mission specialist on STS-101 in 2000. During 2001 he lived and worked aboard the International Space Station as a member of the Expedition-2 crew. Prior to his retirement from NASA in May, 2003, Jim was a management astronaut working in the Space Station Program Mission Integration and Operations Office as the Deputy for Flight Operations.