Ken Bowersox

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Kenneth D. Bowersox
Official portrait, 1987
Born
Kenneth Dwane Bowersox

(1956-11-14) November 14, 1956 (age 67)
Portsmouth, Virginia, U.S.
StatusRetired
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUnited States Naval Academy, B.S. 1978
Columbia University, M.S. 1979
OccupationTest pilot
Space career
NASA Astronaut
Rank Captain, United States Navy
Time in space
211d 14h 12m
Selection1987 NASA Group 12
Total EVAs
2
Total EVA time
13 hours 17 minutes
MissionsSTS-50, STS-61, STS-73, STS-82, STS-113 (up), Expedition 6, Soyuz TMA-1 (down)
Mission insignia

Kenneth Dwane "Sox" Bowersox (born November 14, 1956) is a United States Navy officer, and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle launches and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station.[1] When he launched on STS-73 at the age of 38 years and 11 months, he became the youngest person to command a Space Shuttle.

Biography

Bowersox was born November 14, 1956, in Portsmouth, Virginia, but considers Bedford, Indiana his home town. As a young boy, his family lived in Oxnard, California for seven years and he attended Rio Real Elementary School.[2] Bowersox was active in the Boy Scouts of America, and is an Eagle Scout.[3] He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, before receiving his commission in 1978. A year later, in 1979, he received a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University in New York City, New York. Bowersox attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School and graduated with Class 85A.[4] He served as a test pilot on A-7E and F/A-18 aircraft, and was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1987. Bowersox holds the rank of Captain in the United States Navy.

Astronaut career

He was selected as an Astronaut Pilot by NASA in 1987.

Space Shuttle missions

Bowersox pictured during STS-73, prior to re-entry

Bowersox first flew as a pilot on the Space Shuttle missions STS-50[5] and STS-61,[6] he commanded missions STS-73,[7] a microgravity research mission and STS-82,[8] a Hubble Space Telescope repair mission.

ISS Expedition 6

Bowersox pictured on the ISS

He launched on STS-113 with Don Pettit and Nikolai Budarin for an extended stay aboard the ISS as the commander of ISS Expedition 6[9] in 2002 and 2003, returning aboard Soyuz TMA-1[10] rather than the Space Shuttle as a result of the fleet's grounding following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, which occurred during Bowersox's tour aboard the Station. During Expedition 6, Bowersox performed 2 EVAs with Pettit, totalling over 13 hours in cumulative EVA time.

After NASA

Bowersox retired from NASA on September 30, 2006. On June 16, 2009 he was appointed vice president of Astronaut Safety and Mission Assurance at SpaceX. He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame on June 8, 2010, four days after the first successful launch of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket.[11][12]

It was reported on January 17, 2012, that Bowersox resigned from SpaceX in late December 2011.

Bowersox appeared on three episodes of the American TV show Home Improvement. Series 3, Episode 24, titled "Reality Bytes", aired 18 May 1994.

NASA administration

In July 2019, Bowersox became NASA's Acting Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate, replacing William Gerstenmaier.[13] In May 2020, Bowersox again became NASA's Acting Associate Administrator for the Human Exploration Operations Mission Directorate, replacing Douglas Loverro.[14]

Awards and decorations

Bowersox is a recipient of the National Defense Service Medal with award star, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Navy Sea Service Deployment Ribbon and NASA Space Flight Medal with four award stars.

On October 26, 1995, Bowersox threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Game 5 of the 1995 World Series.

References

  1. ^ Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (October 2019). "Kenneth D. Bowersox" (PDF). Biographical Data. Houston, Texas: NASA. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  2. ^ Murillo, Sandra (February 8, 2003). "Pupils Feared for Pen Pal in Space". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  3. ^ "Scouting and Space Exploration". Boy Scouts of America. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-06-10.
  4. ^ USAF Test Pilot School 50 Years and Beyond. Privately Published. 1994. p. 240.
  5. ^ Ryba, Jeanne (31 March 2010). "STS-50". Mission Archives. NASA. Archived from the original on 6 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  6. ^ Ryba, Jeanne (31 March 2010). "STS-61". Mission Archives. NASA. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  7. ^ Ryba, Jeanne (1 April 2010). "STS-73". Mission Archives. NASA. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  8. ^ Ryba, Jeanne (23 November 2007). "STS-82". Mission Archives. NASA. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  9. ^ Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center; Petty, John Ira (23 November 2002). "STS-113 Mission Control Center Status Report #1". Johsnon News. Houston, Texas: NASA. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  10. ^ Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center; Petty, John Ira (4 May 2003). "International Space Station Status Report #03-21". Johsnon News. Houston, Texas: NASA. Archived from the original on 7 May 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  11. ^ NASA TV airing U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction on June 5 http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2010/jun/HQ_M10-085_Astro_Hall_of_Fame.html
  12. ^ Best, Keilani (June 6, 2010). "Astronauts Enter Hall". Florida Today. Cocoa, Florida. p. 1B – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Head of NASA's human exploration program demoted as agency pushes for Moon return". July 10, 2019.
  14. ^ Feldscher, Jacqueline. "NASA's human spaceflight chief ousted just before big launch". Politico. Retrieved 19 May 2020.

Attribution

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ken Bowersox.
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