http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

Houston, Texas 77058

May 2021

Michael S. Hopkins

(Colonel, U.S. Space Force) NASA Astronaut

Summary:

Michael S. Hopkins was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 2009. The Missouri native most recently served as 

Commander on the Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon, named Resilience, which landed on May 2, 2021. It was the first postcertification mission of SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and his second 

long duration mission aboard the International Space Station. He also served as Flight Engineer on the International 

Space Station for Expedition 64.

Hopkins participated in five spacewalks and spent a total of 168 days in space. The crew broke the American crewed 

spacecraft mission duration record set by the final skylab crew in 1974 as well as having the first night splashdown of a 

U.S. spacecraft since Apollo 8 in 1968.

He holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Illinois and a Master of Science in 

Aerospace Engineering from Stanford University. Hopkins currently supports International Space Station Operations at 

the Johnson Space Center.

Personal Data:

Born in Lebanon, Missouri, and grew up on a farm outside Richland, Missouri. Married to the former Julie Stutz of 

Peoria, Illinois. They have two sons. Recreational interests include backpacking, camping, snow skiing, weight lifting, 

running, hockey and football. His mother, Barbara Duffy, resides in Camdenton, Missouri, and his stepfather, Dennis 

Duffy, is deceased. His father, Ogle Hopkins, is deceased, and his stepmother, Paula Hertwig Hopkins, resides on the 

farm outside Richland, Missouri.

Education:

School of the Osage High School, Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, 1987; Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering, 

University of Illinois, 1991; Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering, Stanford University, 1992.

Experience:

Hopkins was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force in January 1992. In April 1993, he was 

assigned to Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, where he worked on advanced space system 

technologies. In 1996, he attended the flight test engineering course at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, 

Edwards Air Force Base, California. Following graduation in 1997, he worked at the 418 Flight Test Squadron, testing 

C-17 and C-130 aircraft. In 1999, he moved to Cold Lake, Alberta, as an exchange officer with the Canadian Flight Test 

Center. In 2002, Hopkins was selected as an Olmsted Scholar by the George and Carol Olmsted Foundation. Following 

six months of language training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, he moved to Parma, Italy, in 

2003, where he studied political science at the Università degli Studi di Parma. In 2005, Hopkins was assigned to the 

United States Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office at the Pentagon, where he served as a project engineer and program 

manager. In 2008, Hopkins was selected as a special assistant to the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, where he 
http://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies

Michael S. Hopkins

worked until he commenced astronaut training. In 2020, while serving aboard the International Space Station as Flight 

Engineer for Expedition 64, Hopkins voluntarily transferred from the United States Air Force to the United States Space 

Force. 

NASA Experience:

Hopkins was selected in July 2009 as one of 9 members of the 20th NASA astronaut class. He graduated from Astronaut 

Candidate Training in November 2011, which included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in 

International Space Station systems, spacewalks, robotics, physiological training, T 38 flight training and water and 

wilderness survival training.

Spaceflight Experience:

Expedition 37/38 (September 25 through March 10, 2014). On September 25, 2013, Hopkins launched from the 

Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan along with Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy. They were 

welcomed to the space station by Expedition 37 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin of Roscosmos, Karen Nyberg of NASA 

and Luca Parmitano of the European Space Agency. They were later joined by Expedition 39 commander Koichi Wakata 

of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and flight engineers Russian cosmonaut Mikhal Tyurin and U.S. 

astronaut Rick Mastracchio. During his stay aboard the space station, Hopkins and Mastracchio conducted a pair of U.S. 

spacewalks to change out a degraded pump module for a total of 12 hours and 58 minutes. Hopkins, Kotov and 

Ryazanskiy returned to Earth on March 10, 2014, after 166 days in space. During the expedition, the crew completed 

2,656 orbits of the Earth and traveled more than 70 million miles.

SpaceX Crew-1 and Expedition 64 (November 15, 2020 to May 2, 2021) was the first post-certification mission of 

SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft – the second crewed flight for that vehicle – and his second long duration mission 

aboard the International Space Station. He also served as Flight Engineer on the International Space Station for 

Expedition 64. He contributed to many things while aboard the station including scientific investigations, technology 

demonstrations, growing crops and taking hundreds of pictures of Earth. He completed 168 days in orbit and 

participated in 5 spacewalks.

Awards/Honors:

Team Captain, 1991 University of Illinois Football Team; Distinguished Graduate, Reserve Officers Training Corps, 

University of Illinois; Distinguished Graduate and top flight test engineer in United States Air Force Test Pilot School Class 

96B; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Meritorious Service Medal; Aerial Achievement Medal; two Air Force 

Commendation Medals and four Air Force Achievement Medals.

Organizations:

Aerospace Engineering Alumni Board, University of Illinois; Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity. 

Pronunciation:

MY-kull HOP-kins