Editing Jon McBride (section)

==Post-NASA career==

===Business career===
In May 1989, McBride retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy to pursue a business career. He moved to [[Lewisburg, West Virginia]], where he became [[President (corporate title)|president]] and [[Chief Executive Officer|chief executive officer]] of the Flying Eagle Corporation, a venture capital firm,<ref name="CharlestonGM-Obit" /> and president of the Constructors' Labor Council of West Virginia, a group representing heavy and highway construction contractors.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AbxDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1318,2382238&dq=flying+eagle+jon+mcbride&hl=en|title=Jon McBride|date=May 10, 1996|work=Williamson Daily News|page=5A|access-date=May 8, 2012|archive-date=August 8, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240808162405/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=AbxDAAAAIBAJ&pg=1318,2382238&dq=flying+eagle+jon+mcbride&hl=en|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Political career===
[[1996 West Virginia gubernatorial election|In 1996]], he unsuccessfully vied for the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] nomination for [[Governor of West Virginia]], losing to [[Cecil H. Underwood]].<ref name="CharlestonGM-Obit" /><ref name="RozellWilcox1997">{{cite book|last1=Rozell|first1=Mark J.|last2=Wilcox|first2=Clyde|title=God at the Grass Roots, 1996: The Christian Right in the American Elections|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ExrbUtDV1zYC&pg=PA246|access-date=May 8, 2012|year=1997|publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]]|isbn=9780847686117|pages=246–}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Markham |first1=Gailyn |title=Two historic markers dedicated in Beckley |url=https://www.wvva.com/2023/10/25/two-historic-markers-dedicated-beckley/ |access-date=August 10, 2024 |work=[[WVVA]] |date=October 25, 2023 |language=en |quote=The first is a tribute to Jon McBride, a NASA astronaut and space shuttle pilot. McBride graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School more than 60 years ago, and, in 1996, he tried to join the state's political scene when he put his name in the hat for the Republican nomination for governor. He lost the race to Cecil Underwood.}}</ref>
<!-- In subsequent years, he left West Virginia to pursue business opportunities in [[Arizona]]. -->

===Kennedy Space Center and retirement===
By 2008, McBride was retired and living near [[Cocoa, Florida]]. According to a short interview on September 20, 2017, during a "Meet an Astronaut" event, he was also actively working on improving the Space Shuttle Experience ride. He had proposed to assist in the development of a landing sequence for the ride.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/f_launchexp.html|title=NASA – Space Shuttle Launch Experience|last=KSC|first=Jeff Stuckey|website=www.nasa.gov|language=en|access-date=September 22, 2017|archive-date=July 30, 2005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050730004244/https://www.nasa.gov/centers/kennedy/news/f_launchexp.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>Tapscott, Sean. Personal interview with Jon A. McBride. September 20, 2017.</ref> McBride remained active supporting the "Lunch with an Astronaut" program at Kennedy Space Center until 2020 when he announced his retirement from duty at the visitors complex.<ref>{{cite news|title=NASA astronaut Jon McBride retires from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex|first1=Emre|last1=Kelly|publisher=Florida Today|url=https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2020/01/10/nasa-astronaut-jon-mcbride-retires-kennedy-space-center/4434856002/|date=January 10, 2020|access-date=January 16, 2023|archive-date=January 17, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117013743/https://www.floridatoday.com/story/tech/science/space/2020/01/10/nasa-astronaut-jon-mcbride-retires-kennedy-space-center/4434856002/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.cnn.com/2009-03-16/travel/kennedy.space.center.tourism_1_shuttle-astronauts-shuttle-launch-experience-international-space-station?_s=PM:TRAVEL|title=Astronaut encounters at Kennedy Space Center|last=Ogintz|first=Eileen|date=March 16, 2009|work=[[CNN]]|access-date=May 8, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120312182054/http://articles.cnn.com/2009-03-16/travel/kennedy.space.center.tourism_1_shuttle-astronauts-shuttle-launch-experience-international-space-station?_s=PM:TRAVEL|archive-date=March 12, 2012}}</ref>

On September 23, 2011, the NASA [[Independent Verification and Validation Facility]] (IV&V) in [[Fairmont, West Virginia]], dedicated a NASA software laboratory to McBride, a West Virginia native. The laboratory's official name is the Jon McBride Software Testing and Research Laboratory, or JSTAR. JSTAR is NASA IV&V's environment for adaptable testing and simulation, designed to enhance tools and methods used to critically assess mission and safety critical software across NASA's missions. The lab supports end-to-end testing on mission flight software through the application of analytical rigor to reduce the threat of software-related mission failure.<ref>{{cite web |title=Jon McBride Software Testing and Research (JSTAR) |url=https://www.nasa.gov/jon-mcbride-software-testing-and-research-jstar/ |publisher=NASA |access-date=August 10, 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=New NASA Software Laboratory in West Virginia Named in Honor of Former Astronaut Jon A. McBride |url=https://spacenews.com/new-nasa-software-laboratory-in-west-virginia-named-in-honor-of-former-astronaut-jon-a-mcbride/ |website=[[SpaceNews]] |access-date=August 10, 2024 |date=September 22, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Obituary" />