Astronaut Ken Bowersox to Henceforth Oversee Division

NASA Associate Administrator of Space Operations Mission Directorate Kathy Lueders announced on Monday that she will retire from the agency at the end of April. Lueders’ current deputy, NASA astronaut Ken Bowersox, will assume the station of Head of Space Operations effective Monday, 01 May.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson stated: “Kathy is a tremendous public servant and a trailblazer, not only serving as the first woman to head space operations for NASA and the first woman to manage our human spaceflight program, but also championing a new way of doing business in low Earth orbit. The public-private commercial model Kathy and her team helped pioneer will return humanity to the Moon and prepare us for our next giant leap: the first crewed missions to Mars.”

Mr. Nelson continued: “Ken has been instrumental to advancing NASA’s goals and missions in low-Earth orbit and beyond, and I know Space Operations will be in good hands under his leadership.”

During her 31-years with the agency, Ms. Lueders provided strategic guidance for NASA’s human exploration of space, as well as operations that allow the agency to launch science missions to learn about Earth and the universe. Her efforts helped NASA foster significant change in how it partners with private sector concerns to support and expand research aboard the International Space Station—to include manned and cargo transportation to and from the station.

Lueders’s NASA career began at the White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where she served as the Shuttle Orbital Maneuvering System and Reaction Control Systems Depot manager. Positions in the International Space Station Program followed, and Lueders was eventually selected to serve as manager of the Commercial Crew Program at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Thereafter, she was appointed to NASA Headquarters in Washington D.C.

Ms. Lueders’s many honors include numerous NASA achievement awards, the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award, and the Distinguished Service Medal. In addition, she is a 2022 National Academy of Engineering member, a 2020 SpaceNews Government Leader of the Year, an inductee to the 2021 Space and Satellite Hall of Fame, a recipient of the 2021 American Astronomical Society Spaceflight Achievement Award, winner of the 2020 Woman in Aerospace Leadership Award, winner of 2022’s Space Pioneer Award by the National Space Society, and recipient of IAASS’ 2019 Leonardo da Vinci Lifetime Achievement Award.

Upon Ms. Lueders’ retirement, Mr. Bowersox will assume lead of the mission directorate. Bowersox’s operations experience, which includes serving as acting associate administrator of the former Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate, will allow NASA to build on its success in human space exploration.

As an astronaut, Bowersox flew five orbital missions for NASA, including two Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. He served as commander of the sixth expedition at the space station. Following his station mission, Bowersox served as the director of flight operations at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. He has also worked with American industry and served on the NASA Advisory Council as chair of the Human Exploration and Operations Committee.

Administrator Nelson concluded: “Kathy and Ken have both dedicated their life’s work to NASA and our nation. I wish Kathy well during her retirement. We know countless individuals at NASA—as well as members of the Artemis Generation—will be inspired by Kathy’s service and countless contributions.”

FMI: www.nasa.gov