05/30/2026
On May 16th, Eminence-native Tom Akers was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, making his already proud hometown even prouder. Tom was an EHS Redwing, graduating in the class of 1969 and later coming back to serve as a Principal for the school district. Akers secured his legacy as an astronaut while serving as a Mission Specialist on four separate space shuttle missions, starting on the Discovery shuttle in October of 1990. He then served two consecutive missions on the Endeavor shuttle in 1992 and 1993 repairing a satellite and the Hubble Telescope, and one final mission on the Atlantis shuttle to rendezvous with the Russian space station, Mir, in September 1996. It goes without saying, but we here at the museum think Tom Akers is incredibly deserving of his place in the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. Tom, you continue to make your hometown proud.
Below are some various newspaper clippings and shots from Tom Aker’s legendary career as an astronaut with NASA. Enjoy!