Scott A. Higginbotham
Mission Manager
International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing
Scott A. Higginbotham is a mission manager in the International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing Directorate at NASA's John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Fla. His primary responsibility is to lead the multidisciplinary team of engineers and technicians that assemble and test the experiments, satellites, and International Space Station components that fly aboard the space shuttle. He also serves as the primary payload customer advocate/interface and as the primary payload interface to NASA launch vehicle management. He was officially appointed to this position in November 1995 although he began serving in an acting capacity in September 1993.
Higginbotham is currently assigned to the STS-123/ISS-1JA mission. His previous mission assignments include STS-59/SRL-1, STS-71/Spacelab-Mir, STS-79/Shuttle-Mir Mission #4, STS-83/MSL-1, STS-94/MSL-1R, STS-87/USMP-4, STS-90/Neurolab, STS-93/Chandra X-Ray Observatory, STS-99/SRTM, STS-106/ISS-2A.2b, STS-107/Spacehab-RDM, STS-104/ISS-7A, STS-109/HST-SM-3B, STS-113/ISS-11A, STS-114/ISS-LF1, and STS-118/ISS-13A.1.
Previously, Higginbotham worked as a payload mission operations engineer from March 1993 to November 1995. In this capacity, he was primarily responsible for the planning, scheduling and coordination of payload assembly and test operations. From August 1987 to March 1993, he worked as an external tank mechanical systems engineer. In this position, he was primarily responsible for the integration, acceptance testing and launch preparation of external tank structures, thermal protection systems and associated ground support equipment. Additionally, he was a member of the ice/frost/debris inspection team, the lead engineer and principal operator of the Shuttle Thermal Imaging System, and a principal operator/manager of the KSC engineering photo/video analysis facility.
Higginbotham was named a Space Flight Awareness Honoree in 1994. He was also awarded a KSC Certificate of Commendation in 1994, a NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal in 2006, and has been the recipient of 10 NASA Group Achievement Awards in the past twelve years.
Higginbotham was born on Sept. 22, 1965, in Springfield, Mo. In 1983, he graduated from Lamar High School in Lamar, Mo. He earned a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering from the University of Missouri-Rolla in 1987 and a Master of Science in engineering management from the University of Central Florida in 1993.
Higginbotham is married to Bridgit Catherine O'Hara of Cleveland, Ohio. He and Bridgit are the proud parents of eight-year-old twin girls.
September 2007
Biographies - Current Employees