Jake Garn
Encyclopedia
Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn is an American politician, a member of the Republican Party
, and served as a U.S. Senator
representing Utah
from 1974 to 1993. Garn became the first sitting member of the United States Congress
to fly in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery
as a Payload Specialist
during NASA
mission STS-51-D
(April 12–19, 1985).
, Garn earned a Bachelor of Science
degree in business
and finance
from the University of Utah
in 1955, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi
fraternity. He also attended East High School
, Clayton Middle School, and Uintah Elementary School.
as a pilot
. He also served as a pilot of the 151st Air Refueling Group of the Utah Air National Guard
. As a pilot, he flew the KC-97L Stratotanker and a KC-135A Stratotanker. He retired as a Colonel in April 1979. He was promoted to Brigadier General after his space shuttle mission. He has flown more than 10,000 hours in military
and private civilian
aircraft.
Prior to his election to the Senate, Garn served on the Salt Lake City
commission for four years and was elected as the mayor in 1971, entering office in 1972. Garn was active in the Utah
League of Cities and Towns and served as its president in 1972. In 1974, Garn was the first vice-president of the National League of Cities
, and he served as its honorary president in 1975.
Garn was first elected to the Senate in 1974, succeeding retiring Republican Wallace Bennett
. Garn was re-elected to a second term in November 1980, receiving 74 percent of the vote, the largest victory in a statewide race in Utah history.
Garn was chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and served on three subcommittees: Housing and Urban Affairs, Financial Institutions, and International Finance and Monetary Policy. He also was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and served as Chairman of the HUD-Independent Agencies Subcommittee. He served on four other Appropriations subcommittees: Energy and Water Resources, Defense, Military Construction, and Interior. Garn served as a member of the Republican leadership from 1979 to 1984 as Secretary of the Republican Conference.
Garn retired from the Senate in 1992.
.
was launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center
, Florida
. Its primary objective was to deploy two communications satellites, and to perform electrophoresis
and echocardiograph operations in space in addition to a number of other experiments. Designated as "mission specialist," Garn's role on the mission was as a congressional observer and as a subject for medical experiments on space motion sickness. At the conclusion of the mission, Garn had traveled over 2.5 million miles in 108 Earth orbits, logging over 167 hours in space. The spacesickness
he experienced during the journey was so severe that a scale for space sickness was jokingly based on him, where "one Garn" is the highest possible level of sickness. The Jake Garn Mission Simulator and Training Facility, NASA's prime training facility for astronauts in the Shuttle and Space Station programs, is named for him.
Upon his return, he co-authored a novel entitled Night Launch
. The book centers around terrorists
taking control of the Space Shuttle Discovery during the first NASA–USSR space shuttle flight. It was published in 1989.
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, and served as a U.S. Senator
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
representing Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
from 1974 to 1993. Garn became the first sitting member of the United States Congress
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
to fly in space when he flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
as a Payload Specialist
Payload Specialist
A Payload Specialist ' was an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a NASA Space Shuttle mission...
during NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
mission STS-51-D
STS-51-D
STS-51-D was the sixteenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fourth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The launch of STS-51-D from Kennedy Space Center , Florida, on 12 April 1985 was delayed by 55 minutes, after a boat strayed into the restricted Solid Rocket Booster recovery zone...
(April 12–19, 1985).
Early life
Born in Richfield, UtahRichfield, Utah
Richfield is a city in and the county seat of Sevier County, Utah, in the United States, and is the largest city in southern-central Utah. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 7,551. It lies in the Mormon Corridor, just off of Interstate 70 about 40 miles east of its junction with...
, Garn earned a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
degree in business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...
and finance
Finance
"Finance" is often defined simply as the management of money or “funds” management Modern finance, however, is a family of business activity that includes the origination, marketing, and management of cash and money surrogates through a variety of capital accounts, instruments, and markets created...
from the University of Utah
University of Utah
The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest...
in 1955, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
fraternity. He also attended East High School
East High School (Salt Lake City)
East High School is a public high school in the Salt Lake City School District in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S. and serves grades nine through twelve. It also accepts and cares for mentally and physically disabled children. East High School was founded in 1914 and currently has an enrolled student...
, Clayton Middle School, and Uintah Elementary School.
Experience
Senator Garn is a former insurance executive. He served in the United States NavyUnited States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
as a pilot
Aviator
An aviator is a person who flies an aircraft. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887, as a variation of 'aviation', from the Latin avis , coined in 1863 by G. de la Landelle in Aviation Ou Navigation Aérienne...
. He also served as a pilot of the 151st Air Refueling Group of the Utah Air National Guard
Utah Air National Guard
The Utah Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U.S. state of Utah. It is, along with the Utah Army National Guard, an element of the Utah National Guard.-Units of the Utah Air National Guard:...
. As a pilot, he flew the KC-97L Stratotanker and a KC-135A Stratotanker. He retired as a Colonel in April 1979. He was promoted to Brigadier General after his space shuttle mission. He has flown more than 10,000 hours in military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
and private civilian
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
aircraft.
Prior to his election to the Senate, Garn served on the Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
commission for four years and was elected as the mayor in 1971, entering office in 1972. Garn was active in the Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
League of Cities and Towns and served as its president in 1972. In 1974, Garn was the first vice-president of the National League of Cities
National League of Cities
The National League of Cities is an American advocacy organization representing 19,000 cities, towns, and villages, and encompassing 49 state municipal leagues....
, and he served as its honorary president in 1975.
Garn was first elected to the Senate in 1974, succeeding retiring Republican Wallace Bennett
Wallace F. Bennett
Wallace Foster Bennett was a Republican Senator representing the U.S. state of Utah .-Life and career:...
. Garn was re-elected to a second term in November 1980, receiving 74 percent of the vote, the largest victory in a statewide race in Utah history.
Garn was chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee and served on three subcommittees: Housing and Urban Affairs, Financial Institutions, and International Finance and Monetary Policy. He also was a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee and served as Chairman of the HUD-Independent Agencies Subcommittee. He served on four other Appropriations subcommittees: Energy and Water Resources, Defense, Military Construction, and Interior. Garn served as a member of the Republican leadership from 1979 to 1984 as Secretary of the Republican Conference.
Garn retired from the Senate in 1992.
Savings and loan
As Chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Garn was co-author of the Garn–St. Germain Depository Institutions Act of 1982, the law that partially deregulated the savings and loan industry and attempted to forestall the looming Savings and Loan crisisSavings and Loan crisis
The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s was the failure of about 747 out of the 3,234 savings and loan associations in the United States...
.
Spaceflight
STS-51-DSTS-51-D
STS-51-D was the sixteenth flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the fourth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. The launch of STS-51-D from Kennedy Space Center , Florida, on 12 April 1985 was delayed by 55 minutes, after a boat strayed into the restricted Solid Rocket Booster recovery zone...
was launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Its primary objective was to deploy two communications satellites, and to perform electrophoresis
Electrophoresis
Electrophoresis, also called cataphoresis, is the motion of dispersed particles relative to a fluid under the influence of a spatially uniform electric field. This electrokinetic phenomenon was observed for the first time in 1807 by Reuss , who noticed that the application of a constant electric...
and echocardiograph operations in space in addition to a number of other experiments. Designated as "mission specialist," Garn's role on the mission was as a congressional observer and as a subject for medical experiments on space motion sickness. At the conclusion of the mission, Garn had traveled over 2.5 million miles in 108 Earth orbits, logging over 167 hours in space. The spacesickness
Space adaptation syndrome
Space adaptation syndrome or space sickness is a condition experienced by around half of space travelers during adaptation to weightlessness. It is related to motion sickness, as the vestibular system adapts to weightlessness.- Cause and remedy :...
he experienced during the journey was so severe that a scale for space sickness was jokingly based on him, where "one Garn" is the highest possible level of sickness. The Jake Garn Mission Simulator and Training Facility, NASA's prime training facility for astronauts in the Shuttle and Space Station programs, is named for him.
Upon his return, he co-authored a novel entitled Night Launch
Night Launch
Night Launch is a 1989 novel by former US Senator and astronaut Jake Garn about terrorists taking over a space shuttle....
. The book centers around terrorists
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
taking control of the Space Shuttle Discovery during the first NASA–USSR space shuttle flight. It was published in 1989.