Michael J. Massimino

Michael J. Massimino is an American engineer, professor, and former NASA astronaut. A veteran of two Space Shuttle missions to service the Hubble Space Telescope, he performed critical extravehicular activity and became the first person to tweet from space. Following his career at NASA, he transitioned into academia and became a prominent media personality, appearing on shows like The Big Bang Theory and authoring a memoir.

Early life and education

Michael J. Massimino was born in Oceanside, New York, and developed an early interest in spaceflight inspired by the Apollo program. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering from the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science at Columbia University in 1984. He then pursued graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1988 and a Doctor of Philosophy in the same field in 1992. His doctoral research focused on human-machine systems and was conducted at the MIT Man-Vehicle Laboratory.

NASA career

Selected by NASA as a mission specialist in 1996, Massimino completed two years of training at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. His technical assignments included roles in the Astronaut Office Robotics branch and support for Space Shuttle launches at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He served as a Cape Crusader (CAPCOM) in Mission Control Center for several Space Shuttle missions, communicating directly with crews in orbit. His expertise in robotics and extravehicular activity made him a key figure in the complex servicing missions for the Hubble Space Telescope.

Spaceflights and missions

Massimino flew on two historic Space Shuttle missions, both dedicated to servicing the Hubble Space Telescope. His first flight was aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-109 in March 2002, the fourth servicing mission. During this flight, he performed two spacewalks, totaling over 14 hours, to install new solar arrays and other critical components. His second and final spaceflight was on STS-125 aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis in May 2009, the fifth and final servicing mission. On this mission, he performed two more spacewalks to repair the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph and install the new Cosmic Origins Spectrograph. He gained public attention during STS-125 by becoming the first person to post a message to the social media platform Twitter from space.

Post-NASA career and media appearances

After retiring from NASA in 2014, Massimino joined the faculty of Columbia University as a professor of Mechanical Engineering. He is also a senior advisor for space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum in New York City. He has become a well-known science communicator, making frequent appearances on television programs such as The Big Bang Theory, where he played himself, and on networks like CNN and The History Channel. He authored a memoir, *Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe*, and serves as the host of the series *The Planets* on Science Channel.

Awards and honors

For his service, Massimino has received numerous accolades, including the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the NASA Space Flight Medal. He was awarded the American Astronautical Society's Flight Achievement Award for his work on the Hubble Space Telescope servicing missions. His contributions to engineering and public outreach have also been recognized with an honorary doctorate from Hofstra University and induction into the Long Island Air and Space Hall of Fame.

Category:American astronauts Category:NASA astronauts Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts Category:1962 births Category:Living people