NAME: Michael E. Lopez-Alegria (Captain, U.S.
Navy)
NASA Astronaut
PERSONAL
DATA: Born May 30,
1958, in Madrid, Spain,
and grew up in Mission Viejo,
California. Married to the former
Daria Robinson of Geneva, Switzerland. They have one son.
Michael enjoys sports, traveling and cooking, and is interested in national and
international political, economic and security affairs. His parents are
deceased. Daria's parents, Professor Stuart and Margareta Robinson, reside in Geneva.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Mission Viejo High School,
Mission Viejo, California, in 1976; received a bachelor of
science degree in systems engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1980; and
a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval
Postgraduate School in 1988. Graduate of Harvard University's
Kennedy School of Government Program for Senior Executives in National and
International Security. Speaks Spanish, French and Russian.
ORGANIZATIONS: Member, Association of Naval
Aviation, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, and Association of Space
Explorers.
EXPERIENCE: Following flight training,
Lopez-Alegria was designated a Naval Aviator on September 4, 1981. He served as
a flight instructor in Pensacola,
Florida, until March 1983 and
then as a pilot and mission commander of EP-3E aircraft.
In 1986 he
was assigned to a two-year cooperative program between the Naval Postgraduate
School in Monterey,
California, and the U.S. Naval Test Pilot
School in Patuxent River, Maryland.
His final
tour before being assigned to NASA was at the Naval Air Test Center
as an engineering test pilot and program manager. He has accumulated more than
5,000 pilot hours in over 30 different aircraft types.
NASA
EXPERIENCE:
Lopez-Alegria reported for training to the Johnson Space Center (JSC) in August
1992.
Following
one year of training and designation as an astronaut, he was first assigned to
be the Astronaut Office technical point of contact to various Space Shuttle
project elements, then to the Kennedy
Space Center
where he provided crew representation on orbiter processing issues and support
during launches and landings.
Following
his first space flight he served as NASA Director of Operations at the Yuri Gagarin
Cosmonaut Training
Center, Star City, Russia.
After his second mission, he led the newly formed ISS Crew Operations branch of
the Astronaut Office.
Upon
completion of his third spaceflight, he was assigned as the technical assistant
to JSC's EVA Office. Lopez-Alegria has logged over 42 days in space, circled
the Earth 674 times, and performed 5 EVAs totaling 34 hours.
He is
assigned to command Expedition
14 and will serve as the NASA station science officer during a six-month
tour of duty aboard the International Space
Station. Expedition 14 is scheduled for launch
aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in September 2006.
SPACE
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:
STS-73 Columbia
(October 20 to November 5, 1995) was launched from and returned to land at the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
STS-73 was
the second United States Microgravity Laboratory mission and focused on
materials science, biotechnology, combustion science, the physics of fluids,
and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized Spacelab module.
Lopez-Alegria served as the flight engineer during the ascent and entry phases
of flight, and was responsible for all operations of the "blue" shift on orbit.
STS-92
Discovery (October 11-24, 2000) was launched from the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
During the
13-day flight, the seven-member crew attached
the Z1 Truss and Pressurized
Mating Adapter 3 to the International Space
Station using Discovery's robotic arm and performed four spacewalks to
configure these elements. Lopez-Alegria totaled 14 hours and 3 minutes of EVA
(extravehicular activity) time in two spacewalks.
STS-113
Endeavour (November 23-Dec 7, 2002) was the 16th shuttle mission
to visit the International
Space Station. Mission accomplishments included the delivery of the Expedition
Six crew, the delivery, installation
and activation
of the P1
Truss, and the transfer of cargo from Endeavour to the ISS. During the
mission Lopez-Alegria performed three EVAs totaling 19 hours and 55 minutes.
STS-113 brought home the Expedition
Five crew from their 6-month stay aboard the station.
Last
updated: 2006
advertisement
