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Stephen Bowen (astronaut)

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"Steve Bowen" redirects here. For other people, see Stephen Bowen (disambiguation).
Stephen G. Bowen
Bowen in April 2008
Born (1964-02-13) February 13, 1964 (age 60)
Cohasset, Massachusetts, U.S.
StatusActive
NationalityAmerican
OccupationEngineer
Space career
NASA Astronaut
Rank Captain, U.S. Navy
Time in space
Currently in space [1]
Selection2000 NASA Group
Total EVAs
7
Total EVA time
47 hours, 18 minutes
MissionsSTS-126, STS-132, STS-133, SpaceX Crew-6 (Expedition 68/69)
Mission insignia
 frameless.

Stephen Gerard "Steve" Bowen (born February 13, 1964) is a United States Navy submariner and a NASA astronaut; he was the second submariner to travel into space. Bowen has been on four spaceflights, three of them were Space Shuttle missions to the International Space Station. His first mission, STS-126, took place in November 2008, and his second was STS-132 in May 2010. His third was STS-133 in March 2011. and his fourth is SpaceX Crew-6 In March 2023.

In March 2011, Bowen completed his third spaceflight as a mission specialist on STS-133, which was Space Shuttle Discovery's final planned flight. Having flown on both STS-132 and STS-133, he became the first and only astronaut to fly on consecutive shuttle missions. Originally Tim Kopra was scheduled to fly on STS-133, but had a bicycle injury shortly before the mission, and so he was replaced by Bowen.[2] On December 16, 2021, NASA assigned Bowen as commander of SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the ISS, scheduled to launch in 2023.Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).

Military career

Upon completion of the submarine training pipeline, Bowen spent three years attached to USS Parche and completed qualification in submarines on USS Pogy.[3] After attending the MIT/WHOI Joint Program in Ocean Engineering he reported to USS Augusta for duty as the Engineering Officer. During this tour, he qualified for command of nuclear powered submarines. In 1997, he reported to the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) in the Office of Plans and Policy and worked on the USSOCOM Future Concepts Working Group. For nine months in 1999, he was the Reactor and Propulsion inspector for the Navy's Submarine Board of Inspection and Survey (INSURV). In May 2000 he became the first Executive Officer of the Pre-Commissioning Unit Virginia, the first of the new Virginia-class submarines.[3]

NASA career

Bowen is the first Submarine Officer selected by NASA.[3] He was selected as an astronaut candidate in July 2000, as one of NASA's Astronaut Group 18. He reported for training at the Johnson Space Center in August 2000. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station Operations Branch while awaiting assignment to a Shuttle flight as a mission specialist.[3] Bowen was originally assigned to STS-124 but was moved to a later flight to allow the Shuttle to rotate an ISS crew member.[4]

Bowen participating in the third EVA of STS-126.

STS-126

Main article: STS-126

Bowen was then assigned to the crew of STS-126, aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour, which launched November 14, 2008, to the International Space Station. STS-126 carried a reusable logistics module that held supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, exercise apparatus, equipment for the regenerative life support system, and spare hardware.

During STS-126, Bowen participated in three spacewalks, for a total time of 19 hours, 56 minutes.[5]

STS-132

Main article: STS-132

Bowen's next mission was STS-132, aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, which launched on May 14, 2010, to the ISS. While docked to the station, Bowen conducted two spacewalks and logged 14 hours and 34 minutes of EVA time.[3]

STS-133

Main article: STS-133

On January 19, 2011, Bowen was named as the replacement for Timothy L. Kopra on STS-133. Kopra was injured in a bicycle accident, preventing him from flying on the mission. With this mission, Bowen became the first and only astronaut to fly on consecutive Shuttle missions.[2] George Nelson was the first astronaut to fly consecutive Space Shuttle missions in which the Shuttle landed successfully (STS-61-C and STS-26), having the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster between his missions.[6] Bowen conducted two spacewalks and logged 12 hours and 48 minutes of EVA time.

Crew-6

Main article: Crew-6

On December 16, 2021, Bowen was named Commander for NASA's SpaceX Crew-6.


Awards and honors

References

  1. ^ "Astronauts and Cosmonauts (sorted by "Time in Space")". www.spacefacts.de.
  2. ^ a b "NASA'S Shuttle Discovery Heads To Space Station On Its Final Mission". NASA. February 24, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c d e "Astronaut Bio: Stephen G. Bowen" (PDF). NASA. April 2021. Retrieved July 6, 2021.
  4. ^ Withers, Stephen (2007). "Crew assignments for space shuttle mission STS-126 have been revised following the resignation of an experienced astronaut". iTWire. Archived from the original on June 5, 2008. Retrieved November 22, 2007.
  5. ^ William Harwood for CBS News (November 24, 2008). "Spacewalk No. 4 ends". Spaceflightnow.com. Retrieved November 24, 2008.
  6. ^ "STS-133 launch remains on track as Bowen replaces the injured Kopra". nasaspaceflight.com. January 19, 2011. Retrieved January 19, 2011.
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