page_title: Ken Bowersox
section_title: ISS Expedition 6
hierarchical_section_title: Ken Bowersox / Biography / Astronaut Career / ISS Expedition 6
caption_attribution_description: English: ISS006-E-18105 (18 January 2003) --- Astronaut Kenneth D. Bowersox, Expedition Six mission commander, is pictured in the Quest Airlock on the International Space Station (ISS). Various tools are visible floating freely in front of Bowersox.
context_page_description: Kenneth Dwane "Sox" Bowersox is a United States Navy officer, and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle launches and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. When he launched on STS-73 at the age of 38 years and 11 months, he became the youngest person ever to command a Space Shuttle vehicle.
context_section_description: He launched on STS-113 with Don Pettit and Nikolai Budarin for an extended stay aboard the ISS as the commander of ISS Expedition 6 in 2002 and 2003, returning aboard Soyuz TMA-1 rather than the Space Shuttle as a result of the fleet's grounding following the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, which occurred during Bowersox's tour aboard the Station. During Expedition 6, Bowersox performed 2 EVAs with Pettit, totalling over 13 hours in cumulative EVA time.
caption: Bowersox pictured on the ISS
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