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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Cassandra Desouza

Robert Bowen was born in 1956 to Rex Bowen Jr and Tillie Bowen in Ruislip, England while his father was serving in the military. While growing up, his father was stationed at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico during the height of both Gemini and the Apollo space programs. Even when he was very young he watched all the broadcasts of the early space launches on television, but in White Sands he developed a real interest in manned space flight and was able to play on all the missiles and rockets in the space park there.

He seriously considered an application to the Air Force Academy while graduating from High School, but discovered he was too short to be a pilot so he followed his second love in theatre and went on to become a college Professor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

He has always been a strong advocate for the space program as well as a collector of memorabilia. He has retired from teaching and lives in Asheville, North Carolina with his lovely wife Sue. He has shared his love of space history with his daughters Jennifer, Cassie, and Nikki and their children Trea, Ales, Riley Jonah, and Jasper.