Gerald Jay (Jerry) Fishman (born February 10, 1943) is an American research astrophysicist, specializing in gamma-ray astronomy.

He was involved in balloon-borne observations of high-energy radiation from space, and the research group was the first to detect gamma-rays originating from the Crab Nebula.

[2] In 1969, Fishman began his professional career as a senior scientist working on aerospace projects at the research laboratories of Teledyne Brown Engineering in Huntsville, Alabama.

Gamma-rays are generated by celestial events including supernova explosions, creation of black holes, destruction of positrons, and radioactive decay of the atomic nucleus of matter in space.

When one of the gyroscopes on CGRO failed, NASA decided that a controlled crash into the Pacific Ocean was preferable to letting the craft come down on its own at random; it was then intentionally de-orbited in June 2000.

[5] The Gamma-Ray Astrophysics Team at the National Space Science and Technology Center in Huntsville continues to examine data from BATSE.