Capt. Jon A. McBride, USN/NASA (Ret.) is a member of the Astronaut Encounter group at the Kennedy Space Center's Visitors' Complex. The group provides informative briefings on a daily basis to KSC guests. Captain McBride also does limited consulting to business entities, and serves on several boards of directors and advisory groups. He was a Vietnam combat fighter pilot and... read full bio
Ed Gibson received a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Rochester, New York. Ed Gibson was elected as a Fellow of the American Astronautical Society; he is also a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi, and Theta Chi. Following his passion for running he is a member of... read full bio
Captain Joseph Jean-Pierre Marc Garneau CC, CD, PhD, FCASI was the first Canadian in space. He has taken part in three flights aboard NASA Space shuttles. He was the president of the Canadian Space Agency until he entered politics as the Liberal candidate in Vaudreuil-Soulanges for the 2006 federal election. In 2003 Garneau was installed as the ninth Chancellor... read full bio
Story Musgrave was born in 1935 on a dairy farm in Stockbridge, MA. Story never finished school, ran off to Korea with the U.S. Marines where he became an aircraft electrician and an engine mechanic. He started flying with the Marines and over the next 55 years accumulated 18,000 hours flying over 160 aircrafts. Musgrave has seven graduate degrees in... read full bio
It was a lifelong dream for Sid to become an astronaut and it became a reality in June of 1985. As an astronaut Sid became the first Hispanic to both pilot and command the Space Shuttle on STS-40 and STS-59. As pilot on STS-40 the Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS-1) mission, he helped perform experiments, which explored how humans, animals and... read full bio
Mike Mullane was selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. He completed three space missions and logged 356 hours in space aboard the Shuttles Discovery and Atlantis before retiring from NASA and the Air Force in 1990.Since his retirement from NASA, Colonel Mike Mullane has written an award-winning children's book, Liftoff! An... read full bio
Astronaut Terry Virts is an American hero. Spending more than 200 days in space at the International Space Station (ISS), Virts served in one of the most demanding roles in the world. He is one of only four astronauts in history to pilot the NASA space shuttle, fly on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, become Commander of the International Space Station... read full bio
Winston Scott is a former NASA Astronaut and a retired U.S. Navy captain. He graduated from Florida State University with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Music and a Master of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering. Upon graduating from Florida State, Scott entered Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School. Upon finishing school he became a Naval Aviator where he served as... read full bio
As the first citizen of an independent African nation to visit space, Mark Shuttleworth is a South African businessman. He established Canonical Ltd. and is responsible for steering the Ubuntu operating system. He founded numerous businesses, including the Shuttleworth Foundation and HBD Venture Capital. He rose to notoriety when he participated in an expedition that was entirely self-funded as a... read full bio
Guion Bluford is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and fighter pilot and a former NASA astronaut. Prior to joining NASA, he served as an officer in the U.S. Air Force, where he stayed and eventually attained the rank of colonel. He participated I n four Space Shuttle missions. After the Cuban astronaut Arnaldo Tamayo Méndez, he was the second person of... read full bio
The first woman to pilot and command an American spacecraft, astronaut Eileen Collins has led an inspiring life of adventure, leadership, and achievement. A female trailblazer, Collins was named an astronaut by NASA in 1990. She quickly went on to become the first female pilot on a space shuttle with the Discovery flight in 1995, and the first female commander... read full bio
Dr. Roberta Bondar, after many years of training, became Canada's first female astronaut when she flew on the space shuttle Discovery in January 1992. She currently conducts research into blood flow in the brain during microgravity and various pathological states. Dr. Bondar is keenly interested in physical fitness and in educating students about environmental issues. She has received many honours,... read full bio
Leland Melvin is an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. He studied at the University of Richmond on a football scholarship and graduated with a Bachelors in Chemistry. From there, he went on to earn his M.S. degree in Materials Science Engineering from the University of Virginia. Melvin started his career with NASA in the Nondestructive Evaluation Sciences Branch.... read full bio
Cady Coleman is a chemist, former United States Air Force officer, and former NASA astronaut. She experienced two Space Shuttle missions and was a crew member of Expedition 27, logging a total of 159 days in space. In space, she completed experiments testing biotechnology, combustion science, and the physics of fluids. She has been featured on TED Talks sharing her... read full bio
Philip Cary Plait (known as The Bad Astronomer), is an American astronomer, skeptic, writer, and science blogger. Plait has written two books, ‘Bad Astronomy’, and ‘Death from the Skies’. Plait has worked for the Hubble Space Telescope Team, did public outreach advocacy for NASA, appeared in science documentaries, was the President of the James Randi Educational Foundation for a short... read full bio
Former NASA astronaut, Jose Hernandez was recently honored with the USHLI National Hispanic Hero Award. Growing up in both California and Mexico, he spent his childhood working alongside his family throughout the fields of the central valley, not learning English until he was twelve. Following his high school graduation, he majored in electrical engineering, moving on to UCSB, where he... read full bio
Dr. Scott Parazynski is an expert in leadership under adversity, and deriving the very best from multidisiplinary teams. He has spoken all over the world about the rigors, risks and rewards of exploration in extreme environments, deriving important lessons in teamwork, risk management and innovation under the most demanding circumstances, on or off the planet. Your audience will be left... read full bio
Charles Precourt is an American retired NASA astronaut. He is currently the Vice President for Advanced Strategic Programs at Orbital ATK. Precourt started his career in the US Air Force where he was a pilot and command of the Space Shuttle. During his time there, he was also involved in Russian/US Space relations and the International Space Station collaboration. He... read full bio
Geoscientist Dr. Proctor is also an astronaut, space artist and adventurer. She was the Inspiration4's mission pilot and the first black civilian astronaut. Inspiration 4 is the first all-civilian orbital mission ever. The Explorer's Club 50: Fifty People Changing the World, a multidisciplinary, professional association devoted to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration and resource conservation, includes Dr. Proctor as one of... read full bio
Ron Garan is not only an astronaut he is also a highly decorated Fighter Pilot, Social Entrepreneur and Humanitarian. Garan has spent 178 days in space and completed 4 space walks. Ron also possesses an impressive social media following (over 3.5 million) and is included on Google Plus' ""Top 25 Followed"" and Kred's ""Top 1% Influencer"" lists. Ron has been... read full bio
