Jack Bacon

Following an extensive career at the forefront of technology, he currently works at the NASA Johnson Space Center. At NASA, he has served as systems integration lead of numerous Russian and American spacecraft, including the Zarya' (also known by its Russian acronym: FGB), the first element and bridge module of the new International Space Station, launched November 20, 1998. His duties at NASA have included several assignments in the integrated architecture, design, and operations of the Shuttle and of all systems in the US, Russian, Japanese, European, and Canadian elements of the International Space Station. His duties have taken him to space development facilities all over the world, including previously secret Russian installations. He has presented educational and motivational topics on all levels to hundreds of worldwide audiences, and on numerous radio and TV events.

He is an award-winning author, whose latest book is "My Grandfathers' Clock": a nonfiction which traces the development of technology and society through 28 known generations of his family, dating from medieval times to today's permanent human presence in the cosmos. His next release outlines a vision of the next fifty years, and is called: "My Stepdaughter's Watch". It is due out in December.

He is the grandson of aviation pioneer David L. Bacon (one of the original engineers of the NACA in 1919) and of Grace Dunlap, the second woman technical employee at the NACA. (NACA= National Advisory Council on Aeronautics: the precursor of NASA). He is married to the former Janeane Stephens, a speech pathologist, and he is stepfather to Crystal Burdine, a fashion model and high school student.

Dr. Bacon received his BS degree from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in 1976, and his MS and Ph.D. degrees respectively in 1978 and 1984 from the University of Rochester, where he worked on laser-fusion power reactors, fusion propulsion systems, and on microgravity fluid surfaces. He worked for Xerox Corporation in several advanced technology and systems integration assignments, prior to joining NASA in 1990. These assigments included pioneering work in Globalization, factory automation, CAD/CAM, office automation, and artificial intelligence. He was also heavily involved in implementing the "Leadership Through Quality" program at Xerox, which won the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award in 1989. He is licensed as a Professional Engineer.

Jack is a former sailplane pilot, scuba diver, and skydiver. He volunteers regularly as a test subject in numerous NASA flight medicine & physiology experiments, and has logged over 30 minutes of zero-gravity experience in medical test programs aboard parabolic aircraft flights. He was for 16 years a perennial near runner-up in the astronaut selection process, prior to withdrawing his application last year. He is a founding member of the Board of Directors of the Science National Honor Society, a Fellow of the Explorers' Club, and a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). He has recently been nominated as an AIAA National Distiguished Lecturer. Among his numerous awards and honors, Jack has twice been recognized with the NASA Outstanding Speaker Award. He has received the coveted Silver Snoopy award from the astronauts, and has attained the Johnson Space Center's highest recognition, the Certificate of Commendation.