Michael López-Alegría
Michael López-Alegría | |
---|---|
NASA astronaut | |
Rank | Captain, USN |
Time in space | 296 days, 16 hours and 15 minutes |
Selection | NASA Group 14 (1992) |
Total EVAs | 10 |
Total EVA time | 67h 40m |
Missions | |
Mission insignia | |
Retirement | March 12, 2012[1] |
Michael López-Alegría (born Miguel Eladio López Alegría on May 30, 1958) is an
Background
Son of a Spanish father and an American mother, López-Alegría was born in
His son Nicolas starred alongside López-Alegría in 2006 in Mira La Luna (directed by Eduard Bosch). A second documentary, directed by Manuel Huerga, Son And Moon, was released in Spanish theaters in 2009 featuring astronauts Mikhail Tyurin, Sunita Williams, and him.
Mission record
López-Alegría's first space mission was STS-73 in 1995; for several years afterwards he led NASA's International Space Station (ISS) Crew Operations office before returning to space aboard STS-92 in 2000 and STS-113 in 2002. During flight STS-92, he tested the SAFER jet backpack with fellow astronaut Jeff Wisoff, flying up to 50 feet from the spacecraft.[5]
López-Alegría served as an
On September 20, 2006, López-Alegría docked with the ISS as commander of Expedition 14, having taken off from Baikonur, Kazakhstan on September 18, onboard Soyuz TMA-9. On Expedition 14, he performed five spacewalks. On April 21, 2007, he undocked from the ISS and returned to Earth.
López-Alegría holds the all-time American record for number of
List of EVAs
- 2000-10-16 7:07 hours STS-92, EVA 2
- 2000-10-18 6:56 hours STS-92, EVA 4
- 2002-11-26 6:45 hours STS-113, EVA 1
- 2002-11-28 6:10 hours STS-113, EVA 2
- 2002-11-30 7:00 hours STS-113, EVA 3
- 2006-11-22 7:39 hours ISS Expedition 14, EVA 1
- 2007-01-31 7:55 hours ISS Expedition 14, EVA 2
- 2007-02-04 7:11 hours ISS Expedition 14, EVA 3
- 2007-02-07 6:39 hours ISS Expedition 14, EVA 4
- 2007-02-22 6:18 hours ISS Expedition 14, EVA 5
At the end of his ISS mission, he commanded the longest flight by a Soyuz spacecraft, making Expedition 14 the longest expedition thus far. López-Alegría broke the record for longest spaceflight by an American astronaut.[8]
Post-NASA career
López-Alegría retired from NASA on March 12, 2012[9] and served as the President of the Commercial Spaceflight Federation through the end of 2014. López-Alegría is an independent consultant to traditional and commercial space companies, serves on several advisory boards and committees to public and private organizations, and is engaged in public speaking domestically and internationally. He is based in Washington, DC.
In 2017 López-Alegría joined
López-Alegría was the commander of Axiom Mission 3, which launched on 18 January 2024.[13]
Awards and decorations
award star
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oak leaf clusters
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Medal "For Merit in Space Exploration" |
See also
References
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the
- ^ "Astronaut M. Lopez-Alegria's post-NASA career - collectSPACE: Messages".
- ^ "Entrevista exclusiva con el astronauta español MIGUEL LÓPEZ-ALEGRIA - YouTube". YouTube.
- ^ Gorman, Steve (9 April 2022). "Space station's first all-private astronaut team welcomed aboard orbiting platform". Financial Post.
- ^ Khatchatryan, Astgik (May 2020). "Space of Honor". Orange Coast: 59.
- ^ STS-92 NASA Mission Report #15 Archived 2020-11-25 at the Wayback Machine NASA, 2008-10-18.
- ^ NASA (2006-03-21). "NASA – NEEMO History". National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved 2011-09-22.
- ^ "Soyuz docks to station". Spaceflight Now.
- ^ "MICHAEL E. LOPEZ-ALEGRIA (CAPTAIN, USN, RET.) NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. March 2012. Retrieved April 12, 2021.
- ^ "Astronaut M. Lopez-Alegria's post-NASA career - collectSPACE: Messages".
- ^ "About Axiom Space - Michael López-Alegría". Axiom Space. Archived from the original on February 7, 2019. Retrieved February 3, 2019.
CHELSEY BALLARTE (July 17, 2017). "Congress toes a cautious line on support for commercial space partnerships". geekwire. Retrieved February 3, 2019. - ^ Irene Klotz [@Free_Space] (September 18, 2020). "Space Hero mission is about 4th on @Axiom_Space manifest, Mike Suffredini tells @AviationWeek. First up in Oct '21 is flight of 3 private individuals and former @NASA_Astronauts Mike Lopez-Algeria" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Robert Z. Pearlman (26 January 2021). "Axiom Space Names First Private Crew to Visit Space Station". Scientific American.
- ^ "NASA Selects Axiom Space for Third Private Astronaut Station Mission". NASA (Press release). 14 March 2023. Retrieved 14 March 2023.