CARY J. PEADEN HONORED FOR ROLE IN SPACE PROGRAM

Cary Peaden, a native and current resident of Titusville, FL, was among 51 Kennedy Space Center (KSC) employees who were honored recently for their exemplary work at the nation's spaceport.

Peaden graduated in 1980 from Titusville High School. He is the son of Tom Peaden and Joyce Peaden of Titusville.

Peaden received a bachelor degree in electrical engineering from the University of Central Florida in 1986, and master’s degrees from UCF and Florida Institute of Technology in 193 and 1995.

At KSC, Peaden is employed by NASA as branch manager in software engineering. He joined the space center in 1997.

Peaden serves as chief of the Engineering and Processing Services Software Engineering Branch, architect/coordinator of the Expendable Launch Vehicle and Payload Carriers Program Information Technology System, technical lead for the Advanced Information Systems Team and project manager for the Project and Resource Management System.

He and his wife, Stephanie Petty Peaden, have three children – Kimberly, 7; Chrisopher, 4; and Joseph, 3.

The Honoree Award is the highest form of recognition bestowed upon an employee by the NASA Space Flight Awareness Program. The 51 employees selected were part of a contingent of some 250 NASA and contractor employees from throughout the space agency being honored for their professional dedication and outstanding achievement in support of the human space flight program.

The Honorees were given a VIP tour of Kennedy Space Center and attended a special reception. Honoring them were several astronauts and senior officials from NASA and the space industry. The Honorees also were taken to a special VIP viewing area to watch the STS-96 launch of the Space Shuttle Discovery on May 27.

Kennedy Space Center is the launch site and preferred landing site for NASA's Space Shuttles. STS-96 is the second shuttle flight dedicated to the assembly of the International Space Station.

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