NASA Associate Administrator and former astronaut Bob Cabana is retiring effective Dec. 31 after an illustrious 38-year profession with the space agency.
Cabana is the third-highest rating civil servant on the agency, behind only NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. He has been a key figure in shaping NASA’s endeavors and accomplishments.
“Bob is one among the best leaders I’ve ever known. I’ve been fortunate to know him for many years, and I couldn’t be prouder to have had such an ideal colleague and friend throughout the years,” Administrator Nelson said in a Nov. 13 agency news release announcing Cabana’s retirement. “Bob is an example of the American grit, passion, and excellence which can be woven into the material of our nation. Pam and I are eternally grateful for the years of service and positive influence he has had on the US, NASA, and space exploration and want him all one of the best on his upcoming retirement.”
Cabana’s journey with NASA began in June 1985 when he was chosen as an astronaut, completing his training in 1986. Over the course of his profession, he flew 4 shuttle missions, twice serving as commander. Notable missions include being the pilot aboard space shuttle Discovery’s STS-41 mission in October 1990, which deployed the Ulysses solar probe, and Discovery’s STS-53 mission in December 1992, which was a Department of Defense mission that carried a classified primary payload.
In July 1994, he served as commander of STS-65 aboard space shuttle Columbia, which launched the second International Microgravity Laboratory mission.
Finally, he was commander of Endeavour’s STS-88 mission in December 1998, which was the primary assembly flight for the nascent International Space Station. That mission took the primary U.S. module, the Unity node, to space to attach with the Zarya module, which was the primary Russian component orbited for the project.
The STS-88 mission marked the primary of 37 space shuttle flights to the space station through 2011 to assemble, maintain and resupply the orbiting laboratory. The orbiters were retired in 2011, however the ISS program continued unimpeded and is currently serviced by a fleet of international and business spacecraft. The outpost has also remained repeatedly staffed since November 2000 by astronauts and cosmonauts from world wide and is predicted to stay in low Earth orbit through a minimum of 2030.
After spending 38 days in space over his 4 space missions, Cabana held various leadership roles inside NASA. He served because the deputy director of Johnson Space Center in Houston and later because the director of Stennis Space Center in Mississippi in October 2007. That was followed a yr later by his appointment because the director of Kennedy Space Center in 2008.
During his greater than a decade-long tenure at KSC, Cabana oversaw the transition of the ability right into a multi-user spaceport, supporting a big selection of space exploration activities, including the primary crewed flight to the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon in 2020, the primary human spaceflight to orbit from U.S. soil for the reason that retirement of the space shuttles.
Cabana’s remarkable profession reached its pinnacle when he was appointed because the associate administrator of NASA in May 2021. On this role, he led NASA’s 10 center directors and the mission directorate associate administrators at NASA headquarters in Washington, D.C., contributing significantly to the agency’s strategic direction in its Moon to Mars plans.
Before joining NASA, Cabana had a distinguished military profession, graduating from the Naval Academy in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics. He was a naval aviator and graduated with distinction from the Naval Test Pilot School in 1981, logging over 7,000 hours in greater than 50 different aircraft. Cabana retired as a colonel from the U.S. Marine Corps in September 2000.
In recognition of his contributions to space exploration, Cabana was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2008.
“Leading the exceptional people at NASA who explore the universe for the advantage of humanity has been an ideal honor,” Cabana said. “From flying in space to guiding teams across the agency in achieving NASA’s mission, I’m grateful for an incredible profession at NASA and within the space industry, and thankful for all of the enriching friendships made throughout this journey. I actually have been blessed to be a part of such a tremendous team these last 38 years and serving as associate administrator alongside Bill and Pam has been a highlight.”