List of astronauts educated at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

, forty-four alumni of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have been selected as NASA astronauts, more than any other non-military university. Two additional alumni have flown for the European Space Agency (ESA) and China National Space Administration (CNSA). A total of 51 people affiliated with MIT as students, faculty, or researchers have flown to space.

MIT is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, founded in 1861. Its Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Course 16) was established in 1914. In 1962, the Man-Vehicle Laboratory (renamed the Human Systems Laboratory in 2018) was established to study the physiological and cognitive limitations of pilots and astronauts in space vehicles, and has trained many of the Institute's astronauts. The Space Systems Laboratory, established in 1995, develops small spacecraft, precision optical systems, and International Space Station technology.

The first MIT alumnus to fly in space was David Scott, who flew aboard Gemini 8 in 1966. The best known is Buzz Aldrin (Sc.D. 1963), the lunar module pilot of Apollo 11 and the second person to walk on the Moon. As of 2026, the most recent alumna to be selected as an astronaut was Christina Birch, of the class of 2015. , among all U.S. universities, only the United States Naval Academy had produced more astronauts.

Astronauts No. Photograph Name Class Year Degree Notability References 1 Russell Schweickart 1956; 1963 S.B. and S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Lunar module pilot on Apollo 9 (1969); performed the first crewed flight test of the Apollo Lunar Module 2 Laurence Young 1959; 1962 S.B. and S.M. in Electrical Engineering (1959); Sc.D. in Instrumentation (1962) Backup (alternate) payload specialist for STS-58 (1993) but never flew; Apollo Program Professor of Astronautics and co-founder of the Man-Vehicle Laboratory 3 William Lenoir 1961; 1962; 1965 S.B., S.M., and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-5 (1982); later NASA Associate Administrator for Space Flight 4 David Scott 1962 S.M. and Engineer in Aeronautics and Astronautics Pilot on Gemini 8 (1966); command module pilot on Apollo 9 (1969); commander of Apollo 15 (1971); seventh person to walk on the Moon 5 Buzz Aldrin 1963 Sc.D. in Astronautics Lunar module pilot on Apollo 11 (1969); second person to walk on the Moon; also flew on Gemini 12 6 Philip Chapman 1964; 1967 S.M. (1964) and Sc.D. (1967) in Aeronautics and Astronautics Scientist-astronaut in NASA Astronaut Group 6 (1967); Australian-born; resigned in 1972 without flying in space 7 Charles Duke 1964 S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Lunar module pilot on Apollo 16 (1972); tenth person to walk on the Moon; CAPCOM for Apollo 11 8 Edgar Mitchell 1964 Sc.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Lunar module pilot on Apollo 14 (1971); sixth person to walk on the Moon 9 Anthony England 1965; 1970 S.B. and S.M. in Geology (1965); Ph.D. in Geophysics (1970) Mission specialist on STS-51-F (Spacelab-2, 1985); scientist-astronaut; support crew for Apollo 13 and 16 10 Frederick Hauck 1966 S.M. in Nuclear Engineering Pilot on STS-7 (1983); commander of STS-51-A (1984) and STS-26 (1988), the first flight after the Challenger disaster 11 Terry Hart 1969 S.M. in Mechanical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-41-C (1984); U.S. Air Force pilot; later professor at Lehigh University 12 Byron Lichtenberg 1975; 1979 S.M. in Mechanical Engineering; Sc.D. in Biomedical Engineering Payload specialist on STS-9 (Spacelab-1, 1983) and STS-45 (1992); America's first payload specialist 13 Jerome Apt 1976 Ph.D. in Physics Mission specialist on STS-37 (1991), STS-47 (1992), STS-59 (1994), and STS-79 (1996); later professor at Carnegie Mellon University 14 Franklin Chang-Díaz 1977 Sc.D. in Applied Plasma Physics Veteran of seven Space Shuttle missions (1986–2002); first Latin American–born NASA astronaut; tied the record for most spaceflights (seven); founder of Ad Astra Rocket Company 15 Ronald McNair 1977 Ph.D. in Physics Mission specialist on STS-41-B (1984); died in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster (STS-51-L, 1986); second African American in space 16 Albert Sacco 1977 Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering Payload specialist on STS-73 (USML-2, 1995); chemical engineer and academic administrator 17 Janice Voss 1977; 1987 S.M. in Electrical Engineering; Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Mission specialist on STS-57 (1993), STS-63 (1995), STS-83 (1997), STS-94 (1997), and STS-99 (2000) 18 Kenneth D. Cameron 1978; 1979 S.B. and S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Pilot on STS-37 (1991); commander of STS-56 (1993) and STS-74 (1995) 19 William Shepherd 1978 Ocean Engineer's degree and S.M. in Mechanical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-27 (1988), STS-41 (1990), and STS-52 (1992); first commander of the International Space Station (Expedition 1, 2000–01); Navy SEAL 20 Robert Thirsk 1978; 1998 S.M. in Mechanical Engineering; M.B.A. (Sloan) Canadian Space Agency astronaut; mission specialist on STS-78 (1996); flight engineer on Expedition 20/21 (2009); first Canadian on a long-duration spaceflight 21 John Grunsfeld 1980 S.B. in Physics Veteran of five Space Shuttle missions; performed spacewalks servicing the Hubble Space Telescope ("Hubble Repairman"); later NASA Associate Administrator for Science 22 Mark Lee 1980 S.M. in Mechanical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-30 (1989), STS-47 (1992), STS-64 (1994), and STS-82 (1997); performed an untethered spacewalk testing the SAFER unit 23 Catherine Coleman 1983 S.B. in Chemistry Mission specialist on STS-73 (1995) and STS-93 (1999); flight engineer on Expedition 26/27 (2010–11) 24 Pamela Melroy 1984 S.M. in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Pilot on STS-92 (2000) and STS-112 (2002); commander of STS-120 (2007); one of two women to command a Space Shuttle; later NASA Deputy Administrator 25 Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper 1984; 1985 S.B. and S.M. in Mechanical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-115 (2006) and STS-126 (2008); U.S. Navy salvage officer; performed five spacewalks 26 Daniel Tani 1984; 1988 S.B. and S.M. in Mechanical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-108 (2001); flight engineer on Expedition 16 (2007–08); performed six spacewalks 27 Neil Woodward 1984 S.B. in Physics Astronaut candidate in NASA Astronaut Group 17 (1998); U.S. Navy officer; did not fly in space 28 Robert Satcher 1986; 1993 S.B. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-129 (2009); orthopedic surgeon and chemical engineer; first orthopedic surgeon in space 29 Wendy Lawrence 1988 S.M. in Ocean Engineering Mission specialist on STS-67 (1995), STS-86 (1997), STS-91 (1998), and STS-114 (2005); U.S. Navy helicopter pilot 30 Michael Massimino 1988; 1990; 1992 S.M. in Mechanical Engineering and S.M. in Technology and Policy (1988); Engineer's degree (1990) and Ph.D. (1992) in Mechanical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-109 (2002) and STS-125 (2009); serviced the Hubble Space Telescope; first person to post to social media from space 31 Dominic Antonelli 1989 S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Pilot on STS-119 (2009) and STS-132 (2010); U.S. Navy test pilot 32 Michael Fincke 1989 S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and in Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Commander of Expedition 18 (2008–09); mission specialist on STS-134 (2011); pilot on SpaceX Crew-11 (2025–26); once held the American record for cumulative time in space 33 Nicholas Patrick 1990; 1996 S.M. and Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering Mission specialist on STS-116 (2006) and STS-130 (2010); performed three spacewalks 34 Gregory Chamitoff 1992 Ph.D. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Flight engineer on Expedition 17/18 (2008); mission specialist on STS-134 (2011) 35 Timothy Creamer 1992 S.M. in Physics Flight engineer on Expedition 22/23 (2009–10); U.S. Army officer 36 Stephen Bowen 1993 Ocean Engineer's degree and S.M. in Ocean Engineering Mission specialist on STS-126 (2008), STS-132 (2010), and STS-133 (2011); commander of SpaceX Crew-6 (2023); first submariner to fly in space 37 Jack Fischer 1998 S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Flight engineer on Expedition 51/52 (2017); U.S. Air Force test pilot 38 Christopher Cassidy 2000 S.M. in Ocean Engineering Mission specialist on STS-127 (2009); flight engineer on Expedition 35/36 (2013) and commander of Expedition 63 (2020); former Chief of the Astronaut Office; Navy SEAL 39 Nick Hague 2000 S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Survived the Soyuz MS-10 launch abort (2018); flight engineer on Expedition 59/60 (2019); commander of SpaceX Crew-9 (2024–25); U.S. Space Force officer 40 Raja Chari 2001 S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Commander of SpaceX Crew-3 (Expedition 66, 2021–22); U.S. Air Force test pilot; member of the Artemis program 41 Sophie Adenot 2004 S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics European Space Agency astronaut (selected 2022); French Air and Space Force test pilot; graduate student in the MIT Man-Vehicle Laboratory, 2002–04 42 Jasmin Moghbeli 2005 S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Commander of SpaceX Crew-7 (Expedition 70, 2023–24); U.S. Marine Corps test pilot 43 Marcos Berríos 2006 S.B. in Mechanical Engineering Astronaut candidate in NASA Astronaut Group 23 (2021); U.S. Air Force test pilot; first Puerto Rican-born astronaut 44 Warren Hoburg 2008 S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Pilot on SpaceX Crew-6 (Expedition 69, 2023); former MIT assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics 45 Christopher Williams 2012 Ph.D. in Physics Flight engineer on Expedition 73/74 (Soyuz MS-28, 2025–26); clinical physicist; member of NASA Astronaut Group 23 46 Christina Birch 2015 Ph.D. in Biological Engineering Astronaut candidate in NASA Astronaut Group 23 (2021); bioengineer and former competitive track cyclist

Commercial astronauts Three MIT alumni have flown as commercial (private) astronauts or test pilots.

No. Photograph Name Class Year Degree Notability References 1 Keith Colmer 1989 S.B. in Aeronautics and Astronautics U.S. Air Force F-16 test pilot; piloted VSS Enterprise on the GF-21 suborbital test flight; later vice president at Gulfstream Aerospace 2 Emily Calandrelli 2013 S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics and S.M. in Technology and Policy Science communicator and television host ("The Space Gal"); flew on the suborbital Blue Origin NS-28 mission (2024), becoming the 100th woman to fly in space 3 Jameel Janjua 2014 S.M. in Aeronautics and Astronautics Piloted VSS Unity to the edge of space at Mach 2.96 for the suborbital Galactic 07 mission (2024), becoming the first Canadian to pilot a commercial spaceflight

Affiliated astronauts Two NASA astronauts have been affiliated with MIT as faculty or postdoctoral researchers rather than as degree recipients.

No. Photograph Name Affiliation with MIT Notability References 1 Stephen Robinson Postdoctoral fellow, Man-Vehicle Laboratory (1993–94) Mission specialist on STS-85 (1997), STS-95 (1998), STS-114 (2005), and STS-130 (2010); performed the first in-flight repair of a Space Shuttle's exterior 2 Jeffrey Hoffman Professor of the Practice, Aeronautics and Astronautics; Director, Human Systems Laboratory (2002–present) Mission specialist on STS-51-D (1985), STS-35 (1990), STS-46 (1992), STS-61 (1993), and STS-75 (1996); first astronaut to log 1,000 hours aboard the Space Shuttle

See also Space Systems Laboratory (MIT) NASA Astronaut Corps List of Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni

References