Ken Bowersox

Infobox Astronaut
name =Kenneth Duane "Sox" Bowersox


type =Retired NASA Astronaut
nationality =American
date_birth =14 November 1956
place_birth =Bedford, Indiana
occupation =Test Pilot
rank =Captain, United States Navy
selection =1987 NASA Group
time =211d 14h 12m
mission =STS-50, STS-61, STS-73, STS-82, STS-113, Expedition 6, Soyuz TMA-1
insignia =

Kenneth Duane "Sox" Bowersox (born November 14 1956 in Bedford, Indiana) is a former American astronaut, a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station.

Raised in Bedford, Indiana, Bowersox is an Eagle Scout. Bowersox attended the United States Naval Academy and earned a degree in aerospace engineering before receiving his commission in 1978. 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. Bowersox first flew as a pilot on the Space Shuttle missions STS-50 and STS-61, he commanded missions STS-73, a microgravity research mission and STS-82, a Hubble Space Telescope repair mission. He then launched on STS-113 with Don Pettit and Nikolai Budarin for an extended stay aboard the ISS as a member of ISS Expedition 6 in 2002 and 2003.

Bowersox appeared on three episodes of the American TV show "Home Improvement".

Bowersox retired on September, 30 2006

External links

* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/bowersox.html NASA Biography]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/bowersox_kenneth.htm Spacefacts biography of Ken Bowersox]