From John Honeycutt’s student days at The University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to his current management of NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) program at Marshall Space Flight Center, he’s relied on strong teamwork. Now the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame (AEHOF) has recognized his accomplishments by tapping him for its 2025 class.
“I had tears in my eyes and cold chills and was very surprised and humbled,” he said, recalling his reaction to the announcement. “I was totally amazed and could not believe it.”
The Hall of Fame honored Honeycutt, seven other individuals and one corporation during an induction banquet on Feb. 22 at Ross Bridge in Birmingham. They joined the 229 persons, 35 corporations/institutions and 46 engineering projects lauded by the Hall of Fame since its creation in 1987.
Honeycutt’s colleagues had no trouble believing the Hall of Fame citation.
“People tell me I’ve got to take some of the credit, but I’ve got a good bit of the imposter syndrome. Anytime I see something like this – which is by far the biggest thing I’ve ever received – I look back on what made us successful, and I attribute it all to the team.”
An engineering career was a natural path for Honeycutt, who was born and raised in Huntsville. His father was an engineer with the Army Missile Command on Redstone Arsenal.
But Honeycutt took his time following that path. He got his first part-time job at age 15 and continued to work through high school and into his college years at UAH, a part of The University of Alabama System.
“I think that taught me a lot about how to work with people and pull teams together to work for a common cause.”
Honeycutt received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering in 1990, and teamwork played a role in that success, too.
“We had a lab that was basically a big room with tables. A lot of us got together and studied in there, and that was a team environment.”
Honeycutt was named SLS program manager in October 2015 after serving two years as deputy manager. He leads a nationwide workforce of more than 4,200 civil servants and contractors with a current annual budget of approximately $2.5 billion. He is responsible for all facets of the program, including planning, procurement, development, testing, evaluation, production and operation of the integrated SLS deep space rocket.
He is especially proud of his team’s hard work on the successful Artemis I mission. Launched Nov. 16, 2022, this was the first integrated flight test of NASA’s Deep Space Exploration Systems: the Orion spacecraft and SLS rocket with the upgraded Exploration Ground Systems at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
“We had a robust design and a great performance out of that rocket.”
Among Honeycutt’s previous NASA roles are SLS deputy chief engineer and deputy manager for the SLS Stages Office, and manager of the Space Shuttle External Tank Project. In October 2012, he was appointed to the Senior Executive Service, the personnel system covering top managerial positions in federal agencies.
He has received numerous awards throughout his NASA career, including the following:
- 1999: Silver Snoopy Award
- 2000: Center Director’s Commendation
- 2005: Space Flight Awareness Award
- 2010: Special Service Award
- 2011: Space Flight Management Award
- 2017: Exceptional Achievement Medal
- 2018: Silver Achievement Medal
- 2022: Outstanding Leadership Medal
- 2023: Presidential Rank, Distinguished SES
The UAH Alumni Association also honored Honeycutt with the Alumni of Achievement Award in 2017.
A significant milestone in Honeycutt’s career followed the loss of space shuttle Columbia in February 2003. After he served on the external tank investigation team, the external tank project chief engineer asked him to lead one of the teams tasked with making the tank safer to fly.
Honeycutt pointed out that he wasn’t a design engineer: “I’m more of a systems engineer. I think you could probably find somebody better than me.”
But the project chief was determined, and Honeycutt joined the team. Today he understands why he was recruited.
“He wasn’t looking for somebody with a lot of detailed design experience. We had people who could do that. He needed somebody to lead a team. I went on to become the deputy project manager. At the end of the shuttle program, I was the project manager. I was super proud of that team. We implemented about 50 design changes to make the external tank more robust and safer to fly.
“Those were interesting times, and they gave me a good foundation for rolling into the job I have today.”