- 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.
- Lieutenant Colonel Akers logged over 2,500 hours flying time in 25 different types of aircraft.
- In 1982 he was selected to attend the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. After completing one year of training as a flight test engineer, in 1983 he was reassigned to Eglin, where he worked on a variety of weapons development programs, flying F-4, F-15, and T-38 aircraft until he was selected for the astronaut program.
- Joining the Air Force in 1979, his first assignment after Officer Training School was to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, as an air-to-air missile data analyst. There, he also taught night classes in Math and Physics for Troy State University.
- Graduated from Eminence High School (High School Valedictorian) in Eminence, Missouri, in 1969. He received his bachelor and master of science degrees in applied mathematics from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1973 and 1975, graduating Summa Cum Laude; and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1992.
- Akers was a National Park Ranger at Alley Springs, Missouri, during the summer seasons from 1972 through 1976.
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