Mike Massimino

Michael James Massimino (born August 19, 1962) is an American professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and a former NASA astronaut.

He is the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Massimino was born August 19, 1962, in Oceanside, New York, and raised in Franklin Square, New York, both on Long Island.

He graduated from H. Frank Carey Junior-Senior High School in Franklin Square, New York in 1980.

He went on to attend Columbia University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in industrial engineering in 1984.

Upon completing his B.S. degree from Columbia, Massimino worked for IBM as a systems engineer in New York City from 1984 until 1986.

In 1986 he entered graduate school at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he conducted research on human operator control of space robotics systems in the MIT Mechanical Engineering Department's Human-machine systems Laboratory.

His work resulted in the awarding of two patents.

While a student at MIT he worked during the summer of 1987 as a general engineer at NASA Headquarters in the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology.

He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering and a Master of Science degree in Technology and Public Policy in 1988.

He received an MS in Mechanical Engineering from MIT in 1988, and MS in Technology and Policy from MIT in 1988.

During the summers of 1988 and 1989 as a research fellow in the Man-Systems Integration Branch at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, and during the summer of 1990 as a visiting research engineer at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.

He continued his education at MIT, earning a Degree of Mechanical Engineer in 1990 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in mechanical engineering in 1992.

He received the Degree of Mechanical Engineer from MIT in 1990, and a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from MIT in 1992.

Massimino worked at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace in Houston, Texas as a research engineer where he developed laptop computer displays to assist operators of the Space Shuttle remote manipulator system.

These displays included the Manipulator Position Display, which was evaluated on STS-69.

From 1992 to 1994 he was also an adjunct assistant professor in the Mechanical Engineering & Material Sciences Department at Rice University, where he taught feedback control of mechanical systems.

In September 1995, Massimino joined the faculty of the Georgia Institute of Technology as an assistant professor in the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering.

At Georgia Tech he taught human-machine systems engineering classes and conducted research on human-machine interfaces for space and aircraft systems in the Center for Human-Machine Systems Research.

He has published papers in technical journals and in the proceedings of technical conferences.

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in May 1996, Massimino reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996.

He completed two years of initial training and evaluation and qualified for flight assignment as a mission specialist.

Prior to his first space flight assignment, Massimino served in the Astronaut Office Robotics Branch, and in the Astronaut Office Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Branch.

He has served as a CAPCOM (spacecraft communicator) in Mission Control and performed other technical tasks in the Astronaut Office CAPCOM Branch.

STS-109 Columbia (March 1–12, 2002).

STS-109 was the fourth Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission.

The crew of STS-109 successfully upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope, leaving it with a new power unit, a new camera (the Advanced Camera for Surveys), and new solar arrays.

STS-109 set a record for spacewalk time with 35 hours and 55 minutes during 5 spacewalks.

Massimino performed two spacewalks totaling 14 hours and 46 minutes.

STS-109 orbited the Earth 165 times, and covered 4.5 million statute miles in over 262 hours and 10 minutes.

STS-125 Atlantis (May 11–24, 2009) was the final Hubble servicing mission by the Space Shuttle.

Atlantis landed in California after stormy weather prevented the shuttle from landing at NASA's home base in Florida as previously planned.

During the mission Massimino became the first person to use Twitter in space, writing, "From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!"

At Columbia University, Massimino is teaching an undergraduate engineering course, Introduction to Human Space Flight, which harnesses his years of academic and professional experience.

He is also collaborating on The Art of Engineering, a course in which all first-year engineers work on engineering projects with socially responsible themes.

Massimino's book, Spaceman: An Astronaut's Unlikely Journey to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe, is a New York Times best-seller.

The street that Massimino grew up on in Franklin Square, Long Island has been renamed "Mike Massimino Street".

Massimino is a frequent guest on television news and talk show programs, including NBC’s Today Show, ABC's Good Morning America, CNN, and Fox News.

He has also appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson.

On July 29, 2014, Massimino announced that he would be leaving NASA to pursue a teaching career at Columbia University, in New York City.