Jay F. Honeycutt (born 7 May 1937) is an American

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

. He served as the director of

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

's John F.

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

from 1995 to 1997.

Early life and education

Honeycutt was born in

Jena Jena () is a German city and the second largest city in Thuringia. Together with the nearby cities of Erfurt and Weimar, it forms the central metropolitan area of Thuringia with approximately 500,000 inhabitants, while the city itself has a popu ...

La Salle Parish LaSalle Parish (French: ''Paroisse de La Salle'') is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 14,791. The parish seat is Jena. The parish was created in 1910 from the western sect ...

North Louisiana North Louisiana (french: Louisiane du Nord), also known locally as Sportsman's Paradise, (a name sometimes attributed to the state as a whole) is a region in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The region has two metropolitan areas: Shreveport-Bossier Ci ...

. He graduated in 1955 from Pineville High School in Pineville in

Rapides Parish Rapides Parish () (french: Paroisse des Rapides) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 131,613. The parish seat is Alexandria, which developed along the Red River of the South. ''Rapides ...

Central Louisiana Central Louisiana (Cenla), also known as the Crossroads, is a region of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The largest communities in the region as of the 2010 Census were Alexandria (47,893), Natchitoches (18,323) and Pineville (14,555). Central ...

. He obtained a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

from the

University of Louisiana at Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

, then known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana in

Lafayette Lafayette or La Fayette may refer to: People * Lafayette (name), a list of people with the surname Lafayette or La Fayette or the given name Lafayette * House of La Fayette, a French noble family ** Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette (1757� ...

. Honeycutt began his Government career at Redstone Arsenal in

Huntsville Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in th ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, as an engineer in 1960.

NASA

He began his NASA career at the

Johnson Space Center The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight control are conducted. It was renamed in honor of the late U ...

(JSC),

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

, in 1966 as an engineer in Flight Operations for the Apollo Program. Honeycutt subsequently served in several key positions in Flight Operations until 1988. In 1981 Honeycutt served as technical assistant to the associate administrator for the Space Transportation System, NASA Headquarters. From 1982 to 1986, he served in management positions in the Space Shuttle Program Office at Johnson Space Center. From 1986-1987, he was special assistant to the NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight, and coordinated Presidential Commission and Congressional activities relative to the Challenger accident. From 1987 to 1989, Honeycutt served at NASA Headquarters as deputy manager, NSTS Program Office. From 1989 to 1995, he was the director of Shuttle Management and Operations at the Kennedy Space Center. He was appointed director of the Kennedy Space Center, effective January 22, 1995, succeededing Robert L. Crippen. In this role Honeycutt was responsible for engineering management and technical direction of pre-flight, launch, landing and recovery activities for

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program na ...

vehicles. Honeycutt left this position on March 2, 1997 and was succeeded as KSC Director by

Roy D. Bridges, Jr. Roy Dubard Bridges Jr. (born July 19, 1943) is an American pilot, engineer, retired United States Air Force officer, test pilot, former NASA astronaut and the former director of NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center and Langley Research Center. ...

.NASA – Biography of Jay F. Honeycutt
Nasa.gov. Retrieved on May 5, 2012.

Private sector

After leaving NASA, Honeycutt was president of

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

Space Operations from 1997 to 2004. On 22 September 2008, he joined Odyssey Moon where he was named president and was responsible for all programs and commercial launch operations.

Awards

Among the significant NASA awards Honeycutt has earned are: * Exceptional Service Medal (1974, 1988) * Special Achievement Award (1978, 1982) * Outstanding Leadership Medal (1988, 1995) * Equal Employment Opportunity Award (1993) * Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award (1993)

Personal life

Honeycutt and his wife Peggy live in

Cocoa Beach Cocoa Beach is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 11,539 at the 2018 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. History The first non-native ...

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

; they have four children: Barry Honeycutt, Jeff Honeycutt, Delise Del Favero, and Daniel Del Favero.

References