NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Jon Cowart was chosen as deputy mission manager for Ares I-X in December, 2008. Image Credit: NASA

Jon N. Cowart was born on Dec. 16, 1958, in Mobile, Ala. He lived all over the Southeast but finally settled in the Atlanta area. After graduation from Tucker High School, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force Reserve. He graduated from Georgia Tech in 1983 with a Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering and an Air Force commission.

2nd Lt. Cowart was assigned to the 6595th Shuttle Test Group at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., where he worked as a solid rocket booster (SRB) mechanical systems and handling engineer for his first two years. He was in charge of the first-ever stack of SRBs at Vandenberg and was then promoted to orbiter mechanical systems engineer. He received the Air Force Distinguished Service Medal for his work in the shuttle program. In 1987, Cowart became a staff officer to Maj. Gen. Donald Cromer, commander of the Air Force Space and Missile Test Organization. He resigned his commission as a captain in 1987 to join NASA.

Upon coming to Kennedy Space Center, Cowart became a project engineer on the space shuttle orbiter Atlantis. His primary duty was to oversee daily testing and preparations for flight of Atlantis. In 1993, Cowart was one of 50 people chosen from throughout NASA to participate in the Space Station Redesign and received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal for that effort. Cowart then became the chief engineer at Kennedy responsible for the orbiter's docking system, which is used to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir and the International Space Station.

In August 1995, Coward was selected to go to Washington, D.C., and work on special projects for the chief engineer of NASA including next generation spacesuits and launch vehicle reliability.

Upon his return from Washington, Cowart was named chief engineer for shuttle Discovery. In May 1996, Cowart left the shuttle program to be the space station assembly flight 3A mission manager. In July 1997, he was named as the space station assembly flight 2A mission manager. Flight 2A comprised the Unity connecting module and two pressurized mating adapters, and was the first U.S.-launched component of the International Space Station. These components were launched on space shuttle mission STS-88 on Dec. 4, 1998. Unity's on-orbit activation was virtually flawless and now, along with the Russian FGB named "Zarya" and the Russian Service Module named "Zvesda," form the cornerstone of the International Space Station (ISS).

Cowart next was assigned as the mission manager for the inboard truss elements of the ISS. He was appointed as the mission manager for the U.S. Laboratory Module, named Destiny, and the airlock. As the mission manager, Cowart was responsible for all of the acceptance testing, outfitting, testing and final preparation for flight of these two elements of the station launched on separate Shuttle missions in 2001.

After the successful on-orbit activation of the U.S. Lab, in 2001 Cowart became the manager of the Orbiter Sustaining Engineering Office at Kennedy, representing the Orbiter Project Office located at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The office was responsible for all design engineering problems and changes encountered and implemented at Kennedy.

In 2007, Cowart became the senior project manager responsible for all modifications to the launch pad, Vehicle Assembly Building, and mobile launch platform for the Ares I-X flight test. Ares I is the launch vehicle that will carry astronauts into orbit after the Space Shuttle Program ends in 2010. In December 2008, he was chosen deputy mission manager for Ares I-X. As part of the Mission Management Office, he is responsible for the entire Ares I-X flight test mission.